Review Session: Wild Beasts' Smother

Smother by Wild Beasts

I think most people who listen to indie music have that one band they feel they discovered in some cosmic way. Well, Wild Beasts is mine. I didn't really discover them, but I found a couple of tracks they had released about a year before their debut album Limbo, Panto came out. I thought they were the next movement in indie music with their operatic, steampunk sound. Limbo, Panto was amazing, and their sophomore album Two Dancers was even better. Smother comes out soon, and I gave it a few advanced listens and it is interesting. Most of the tracks are thoughtful, progressive, and sound so damn good. A few are incomplete, but still better than 99% of the bands out there.

Wild Beasts have a sense of elegance you get with bands such as Beirut and Fleet Foxes that hark on elements of music from past centuries. And Smother is a huge move for Wild Beasts in my mind, because Smother is completely different than the first two albums. They use the piano to perfection in song such as "Lion's Share" and "Albatross". Electronics weave their way in and out beautiful, sophisticated lyrics. Hayden Thorpe, known for his atomic falsetto, sticks to high pitches and tones, and Tom Fleming chimes in with his alter-ego masculine voice. The album moves along steadily and is evenly spread, and not too thinly I may add. Smother creates new sensations for me and it feels breathtaking in a small way.

I can see why someone may not like Smother as much. It doesn't have that one phenomenal track like "Devil's Crayon" or "Two Dancers", maybe "Albatross" fits that bill, but I think it has a deeper repertoire. I truly love this album and it has some great nooks and crannies that need discovering. It has some kinks that could have been worked out before hand, but these guys are so good at getting their sound correct. Which is hard to do on your third album with such a distinct sound. If you haven't listened to them before, check out their first two albums first. The progression of Wild Beasts has been joyful and I think their future is bright still.

Rating = 8.5

Review Session: The Blitz

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

I read a preview of this album back in March and the thing they emphasized about it was that it was darker and harder than their self-titled debut. Well, I have listened to Helplessness Blues multiple times and all I can think is, "Are they fucking nuts?" It is lighter and softer, minus their own version of Radiohead's National Anthem at the end of "The Shrine/An Argument". This album is simple, delightful and fresh. It is not as evocative as their first album, and they fail to complete some very important thoughts. But it is sweet, compact and makes you ask for more.

Rating = 8.5

Tomboy by Panda Bear

In 2007, Person Pitch had it's knob slobbered all over by Pitchfork, which named it Best Album of the Year and gave "Bros" it's Track of the Year. If you look back to my Top 21 of 2007 IT WASN'T EVEN ON THERE! It was good, I admit, but it is really only three really great songs and 4 really average songs. Not a really good album. Tomboy is different though. It doesn't have any great songs, but all of the songs are really good. I know this isn't a great evaluation, but it is Panda Bear. You expect the same pedal-mushing, voice-overlapping, sonic-booming, heady music that he always does. Tomboy is a complete album, something Noah Lennox is doing for the first time.

Rating = 8.3

Belong by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

A couple of days after this album dropped I was at the Cat's Cradle watching them play with Twin Shadow. I do not like to listen to a band leading up to their show, so I didn't listen to the new album. However, I made two observations at the show. One, Twin Shadow was amazing (and over shadowed Pains) and Two, Pains' new songs didn't sound great live. So, then I listened to the album and I was truly impressed by it. It didn't matter that the songs weren't all that good live, on an album they were refreshing and guided. They used less power and more finesse. It is more heart-felt and less in your face. Ironically, I felt it did Belong (Get it!).

Rating = 8.3

Goblin by Tyler, the Creator

Awesome, hardcore, pounding, insane, ghetto-fabulous, in-your-face, mind-blowing, disgusting, creative rap music from Odd Future's ringleader!!!

Rating = 7.8