I don't know what to do with Wild Beasts. One second they're playing subdued, guitar-driven ballads, the next, they're running off the charge of a bouncy drum beat, going from playful falsetto to low-end vibrato lust with the passing of a bar.
The British band's second album, Smother, picks up where its widely acclaimed predecessor, Two Dancers, left off, with artful and seductive alt-pop, somewhere between Prince and Animal Collective.
Hayden Thorpe's elastic vocals are a sight to behold and drummer Chris Talbot always keeps things interesting live, finding melodic beats that achieve the same end as Cale Parks' most heroic fills.
As they tour here in the States, they keep graduating venues, from Mercury Lounge to Le Poisson Rouge this past June, and now to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The quartet (quintet live) does a back-to-back bill at the Williamsburg venue, playing Friday and Saturday nights both with the subdued synth-pop called BOBBY.
