Two Dancers ... doesn't so much follow up their debut as announce Wild Beasts as one of our genuinely special bands, one that can compete - in terms of both musical and lyrical ingenuity as well as sheer pop nous - with any US act you've seen talked up in the music press this year.
Two Dancers is another sublime step forward for Wild Beasts, one that might hopefully bring them much more deserved appreciation.
Two Dancers is a striking, dynamic album, and will deservedly land on many year-end lists.
An album so laden with lush densities and provocative melodies that you would be forgiven for thinking this album had taken ten years to make.
Ignore speculation, and simply make time to bask in the seemingly endless supply of luxurious delights contained within this stunning achievement.
Two Dancers has a blend of invention and pop sensibility that seems to have been largely lacking on this side of the Atlantic in recent years.
UK quartet follows 2008's fidgety, impulsive baroque-rock debut, Limbo, Panto, with an album that refashions them as a steely art-funk outfit.
With Two Dancers, the Wild Beasts move from fascinating to accomplished, and that they did so just over a year after releasing Limbo, Panto makes that achievement all the more impressive.
Two Dancers marks a big step forward for Wild Beasts. The eccentricities are still present, the quirks still correct, but everything has been shepherded into a more cohesive, frequently more melancholy, totality.
Two Dancers is a clear step forward for Wild Beasts, ably taking them from talented rookies to driven, inspired standouts in one leap.
Wild Beasts summon up the ghosts of that decade’s brainier, more flamboyant indie bands.
Every song on Two Dancers reflects the meticulous intelligence of master stylists.
The heart of Two Dancers lies in these seemingly jarring juxtapositions. The individual ingredients may be a decidedly mixed bag, but the final product is both coherent and very satisfying.
Thorpe and co. can still sound as if they play against rather than off one another. But Two Dancers, a huge improvement that comes only one year after their debut, is certainly the sounds of Wild Beasts becoming a band to keep tabs on.
It's an assured follow-up that rubbishes the notion of the difficult second album. Hayden Thorpe's falsetto eerily echoes The Associate's Billy McKenzie, but even this is kept in check.
This is kind of a hard album to rate. On one hand, I loved the instrumentals. With a range of subtle to more in-your-face, the instrumentals carried the right energy on each track. I enjoyed the vocals too. They usually matched up with the ambiance on the tracks, and they added an extra edge to cement the quality of each track. The lyrics, however, particularly towards the beginning, just made no sense. Nonsensical rambling in order to create a certain vibe can work well, but I don't think it ... read more
How marvelous the wild beasts have been transformed into two dancers who aren't simply performing their art, but they are here to test and eventually give new shapes to their indie dance.
Recommended this from Michael Imperioli (Chrissy from the Sopranos), who has exquisite taste. Glad I checked it out. Trusting his opinions wholeheartedly.
Criminally underrated, wildly ambitious and weird, an album made by true originals that manages to sound unique while operating entirely within the realm of pop.
The songs in Two Dancers sound as if they were crafted in the 1500s and then updated with bass and synths. Lyrically, the band has managed to achieve a glorious way of combining words to create perfect songs.
Better than the debut with a better balance with the voices and sound despite some inconstancies here and there.
1 | The Fun Powder Plot 5:35 | 93 |
2 | Hooting & Howling 4:35 | 89 |
3 | All the King's Men 3:59 | 80 |
4 | When I'm Sleepy 2:09 | 74 |
5 | We Still Got the Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues 4:35 | 87 |
6 | Two Dancers 4:06 | 79 |
7 | Two Dancers II 2:37 | 78 |
8 | This Is Our Lot 4:32 | 88 |
9 | Underbelly 1:54 | 80 |
10 | Empty Nest 3:24 | 83 |
#4 | / | musicOMH |
#4 | / | NME |
#5 | / | Uncut |
#6 | / | Clash |
#8 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#10 | / | No Ripcord |
#10 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#22 | / | Pitchfork |
#28 | / | Stereogum |
#32 | / | MOJO |