Wild Beasts

Hooting and howling

"Good Northern voice," my Northern companion noted, as Hayden Thorpe explained how the romanticism of Edinburgh blew his mind. Voices are key to the Wild Beasts sound. The two frontmen are wondrous singers; Thorpe's falsetto and Tom Fleming's baritone are perfectly matched and bring each song to life. At the Liquid Room last night, they were both on fine form.


Mind-blowing romanticism

Clean, echoing guitar sounds and snapping drums add a from-across-the-chasm atmosphere. It has real impact live and there is no need for deviation or trickery here. The performances are straight, faithful to the recorded originals, and almost always spot on. This Is Our Lot, His Grinning Skull and Reach a Bit Further were all centrepieces and captured the band at their best: hitting an irresistible groove and then taking flight with vocals laced with surprise.

Earlier, Bed of Nails and We Still Got the Taste Dancin' on Our Tongues made a sizeable one-two opening punch. The latter, referencing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, is a personal favourite and was taken at a spirited gallop. The euphoric mood increased with The Devil's Crayon, as the room was filled with dancing energy. This was a little punctured by The Fun Powder Plot, which was taken at a slower pace than expected and came across a little sluggish. No matter, as the best was to come.

"We fookin' love you guys!" yelled a correct man. He was rewarded, alongside the rest of us, with a chiming Hooting & Howling. As an encore, Lion's Share and an excitable All the King's Men got the crowd singing along. Both Thorpe and Fleming were enjoying themselves, immersed. One only feels they need shirts which are rather less shit, especially next to supercool guitarist Ben Little. End Come Too Soon calmed us down. A wash of sound slowly consumed the song and the band hid from view, re-emerging for the finale. Wonderful stuff.