Reviews (page 5 of 7)
The voice is a little too strange for my taste.
De eerste tonen doen me een beetje aan Air denken, en dat belooft veel goeds. Dan wordt alle rust verstoord door een dronken zanger die iets teveel geblowd heeft. Kwam van een feestje van Kate Bush volgens mij. Het aantal sterren is vooral voor de muzikanten. Heerlijk ontspannen - bijna dance - muziek. Aan de stem ging ik stiekem ook wel wennen. Mijn favoriet is "We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues".
Lastig inkomen. Een album met twee gezichten voor mij. De eerste helft wordt van de tweede helft gescheiden door Two dansers. Terwijl het eerste deel mij af en toe irriteert door de falsettozang, doet het tweede deel me bij vlagen denken aan vroeg werk van the Killers. Dit komt voornamelijk door de zang. De arrangementen zijn gelaagd, bij tijd en wijlen complex en spelen met ritme en sound. Erg gaaf. De zang is voor mij een afknapper, al kan ik me voorstellen dat dit album een nieuwe stijl inluidde waarin bijvoorbeeld the Temper Trap en Alt-J zich verder ontwikkelden. Geen makkelijk album, wel interessant.
Singing is similar to An Awesome Wave, instrumentals remind me of Dark Eyes. But neither are as good as those examples. It picks up towards the back end, some stronger tracks there. Overall decent, probably not going to be a regular player though.
false
It was okay. Didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it.
Interesting music but too weird for my taste
false
This was actually pretty cool
Not bad--pretty nice easy listening, but not something I'll go back to.
Kinda weird sounding, fails to make an impression
Nice background music. My mom would probably like it...
2009: All The King's Men, When I'm Sleepy
Nothing wrong with this album, I just don't like a lot of indie rock because I'm not a fan of the guitar work. I don't like the style of picked out chords with chorus and reverb drenched all over it.
Tame tunes. Turgidly dull.
Wild beasts, tame music
Mid
Kinda reminds me of the smiths. But also after hearing the whole thing it just is not my style. There are some songs that sound decent but then others I just do not like. The vocals are also too high of a pitch for me
2.5
It was alright until the vocals came in. What was it about that time period that so many singers tried to sing in the highest register they could hit. Thom Yorke did it sparingly and it worked, but this guy (and others) try it constantly, and it most certainly does not work. At least for me.
I’d never heard of this band despite, apparently, them enjoying a Mercury Prize nomination moment. In sound and lyrical style it’s kind of a cross between Orange Juice and The Associates, but without the charm of the former or the grandeur of the latter.
album #88 do i think it's deserving of being on the list? no. is the first track fucking hilarious (with or without intention) absolutely. albums receiving awards should not automatically make them a contender for this list. this was boring. ꩜ average track rating: 2.1/5 ꩜ favourite track(s): the fun powder pot ꩜ least favourite track(s): all the king's men, we still got the taste ꩜ album rating: ★★☆☆☆ ꩜ number of albums left to review: 1,001 ꩜ number of albums from the list that i agree with being on the list: 42 ꩜ albums from the list that I would consider on my list: 18 ꩜ albums from the list I won't include on my list: 70
Poeh, dit is niet mijn kopje thee. De muziek gaat nog wel, van die dromerige artsy farsty pop. Maar dan gaat er een figuur overheen janken, die klinkt als de liefdesbaby van Jimmy Summerville van Bronski Beat en Kate Bush. Clownesk, aanstellerig, kitsch, eurovisie songfestival. Dat zijn de termen die in me opkomen. En een partij krachttermen natuurlijk, maar die zal ik hier laten voor wat het is. De muziek is ergens niet eens heel slecht, het heeft iets weg van Arcade Fire en die heb ik pas nog met 4 sterren beloond. In theorie zou dit album dus ook die potentie kunnen hebben, ware het niet dat we hier nog nooit van gehoord hebben en ze geen hitjes hebben gescoord, waar je je op kan verheugen. Vervolgens is er die rare hoge stem, die ik echt totaal niet trek. Het werkt gigantisch op mijn zenuwen. En dat maakt het zelfs twijfelen tussen een 1 en een 2. Ik heb de neiging om het uit te zitten, maar zie dat ik nog maar een kwartiertje hoef, dus ik weersta die neiging. Ook omdat op het nummer hierna er wel met een normale stem gezongen wordt. Nipt een 2.
This started out as a great instrumental album…And then they started singing.
Imagine you grew up in the late 90s and your Mom only had a Kate Bush CD in the house. It is all you ever listened to and the only real concept you have of what music sounds like. Then you started a band in the late 2000s ...
The lyrics are atrocious (thanks other reviewers) and the music is forgettable, gonna be a no from me dog
Somebody in Kendal, England heard The Smiths once and never fully recovered. Hayden Thorpe sings like Morrissey attended a Renaissance fair, developed opinions about courtly love, and then got lost in a forest for several years before anyone found him and handed him a microphone. This is not necessarily a criticism. It is, however, an experience. The critics absolutely lost their minds over this record. NME called it "a treasure that deserves plundering." Pitchfork praised its "wondrous, mythic scale." It was nominated for the Mercury Prize. It also made this list, which is exactly the kind of sentence that makes you question the judgment of everyone involved in the book. The instrumentals are genuinely atmospheric and interesting, which makes it all the more unfortunate that someone insisted on singing over them. One reviewer helpfully noted the album is "a huge grower." This is critical music journalism for "you will not like it the first time." They were right. 2 out of 5. One star for the instrumentation, which deserved better. One star for the audacity. The remaining three stars are hiding somewhere in the forest with Hayden Thorpe.
It was fine. Was hoping for more
lol. Why the fuck is this here? Who has ever heard of this band, really? What stamp has this record made on the musical timeline? Terrible lyrics sung in a Tiny Tim falsetto over music that might be ok except that I’m so distracted by the aforementioned terribleness. So dumb. I’m not so much mad that a bad band made a bad record as much as I’m annoyed that this was a record I supposedly NEEDED to listen to. 3.5/10
Wild Beasts sound a lot like Death Cab For Cutie, especially the vocals. Ultimately, I just couldn't get into their songs.
The singer is trying so hard to be annoying, but he cannot even top the boring music.
2.0
not for me. sounds like thom yorke if he was bouncing on a trampoline
Would have liked this a lot more with less vocals. Like, a lot less vocals. 2.5
Annoying honestly, I probably would have liked this in high school and thought it was cool 2 stars
At least they made some musical decisions, that I’ve never heard before. Yet this wasn’t for me
That falsetto was a choice for sure
lots of unintelligible moaning and mumbling over repetitive, droning instrumentation/electronic beats. for the first few tracks, i could see through the banal slog at what could have been interesting--part kate bush/peter gabriel synth driven artpop. but as it wore on, it wore me down. 2⭐️
Not doing it for me
I listened to it but it made no real impression on me
⭐⭐- Drömsk indie rock. Skulle kunna vara min grej men det är det inte. Saknar något som fastnar, spåren på det här albumet rinner bara av. Ännu ett album som jag undrar vad det gör på listan. Ytterligare ett band som bara är med på listan för att de råkar vara brittiska? Bäst är Hooting & Howling
Some amusing lyrics, but pretty bland musically.
Two Dancers (i) and Two Dancers (ii)? Belt up.
Not really sure why this is here.
I think the vocalist’s range carries this project completely. I outside of a few songs, I found the music itself to be passable at best. But man, Hayden Thorpe. Non-gendered-sounding voice that goes way up and way back down with ease. I’m reminded of singers like Anohni or Matthew Koma. I enjoyed “All The Kings Wild Men” enough to make note of it. “Through The Iron Gate” was what I had really been searching for though. An arrangement sticky enough to sink my teeth into, something besides the singers voice to hold my attention. 2/5 stars for the voice but at this point just go listen to more Anohni and the Johnson’s.
Voihan indie sentään. Jostain syystä vokaalien kanssa pitää aina kekkuloida ja tehdä hölmöjä juttuja. En tiä oliko tässä kaksi laulajaa kun välillä oli aivan eri kuulosta meininkiä. Ei lähde oikein itselle tämä, musiikillisesti aivan menevää ja OK, mutta voksut työnsi kyllä vahvasti pois johonkin ärsyttävyyden puolelle.
Started off so good. Then the vocals started.
Boring. The vocals are annoying. Song structure is flat. No dynamics. All the songs are the same. I want to be nice, but I just don’t like it.
Surprised to see this here. I’m not unfamiliar with their presentation, having been a fan of Present Tense, but a lot of this feels quite dated, too caught in the landfill indie/dance punk revival styles of Interpol, Grizzly Bear, Editors, etc. They’re better than that. Even knowing Wild Beasts’ whole deal ahead of time, the vocal approach and lyrical sensibility is an acquired taste for sure and wears out its welcome for me.
Background music…ok
480/1089 - Not for me. Wide vibrato gets too cluster-chordy which doesn't pair well with the mellow and tonal instrumentals.
Weird but not amazing
I did not care for the vocals. Musically, this was ok. But the voice too often grated on me.
Not my thing. I liked beat of “ the Fun Powder Plot,” but the vocal style doesn’t work for me. “All the King’s Men” is the first one I could listen to without being annoyed by, what I consider, unnecessary vocal gymnastics. The vocal style went better with “This is Our Lot” and “Underbelly.” I enjoyed “Underbelly.”
The first minute was promising, but then the vocals came in. Everything just felt a little off. Would’ve been a good instrumental album though.
Mid ass Brit pop rock - I am 935 albums in and still can’t believe how much Brit pop is on this list.
I was excited to hear something new from what is apparently my favorite musical era, but yikes. It makes sense that I’ve never even heard of it. I usually love goofy/theatrical falsetto singing, but this is just not it. (ntm.)
That was rough
mm creo que 2 puntos. no me gusto mucho
Das Quartett aus Kendal, England, nahm sein zweites Studioalbum Anfang 2009 unter ungewöhnlichen Bedingungen auf: Die Aufnahmen entstanden auf dem abgelegenen Leeders Farm in Norfolk, abgemischt wurde anschließend in The Yard in London. Unter der Koproduktion von Richard Formby entstand beim britischen Indie-Label Domino Records ein Werk, das bewusst auf den Hochglanz konventioneller Studioprozesse verzichtet – live eingespielt, transparent in der Textur, von einer fast theatralischen Fragilität. Den Kern des Albums bilden zwei scheinbar unvereinbare Gesangswelten: Hayden Thorpes ausladender Kontratenor und Tom Flemings erdiger Bariton wechseln sich ab, ergänzen sich und reiben sich aneinander. Songs wie „Hooting & Howling", „We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues" und „The Fun Powder Plot" zeigen eine Band, die Themen wie Begehren, Ausgelassenheit und körperliche Vergänglichkeit mit einer literarischen Präzision verhandelt, die im Indie-Rock selten ist. Die Instrumentierung – zarte Gitarrenlinien, pointiertes Schlagzeug, sparsame Arrangements – lässt den Stimmen maximalen Raum. Two Dancers wurde für den Mercury Prize nominiert und gilt bis heute als kommerziell und künstlerisch erfolgreichstes Werk der Band. Für einen kurzen Moment, eingefangen zwischen Norfolk-Stille und Londoner Nachthall, klingt hier eine Band, die genau weiß, wer sie ist – und das mit einer Souveränität, die gleichzeitig verletzlich und unnachgiebig bleibt. Ein Album, das die Eigenheit seiner Entstehung trägt wie ein zweites Fell.
Are u a tropical bird? No? Then stop making that noise.
The album presented was a particular experience, the band addresses genres from alternative rock, with a lot of use of electronic instruments with futuristic sounds, to pop at times. The vocal style, particularly, seemed somewhat strange to me, being a kind of androgynous voice with many effects reminiscent of a bad imitation of the cure. I must also highlight that the album has a fairly persistent repetitiveness, it suffers from that, the songs are quite similar to each other and can seem longer than they really are. despite this, there are some redeemable tracks from the album, in general I find the first and last tracks from the album to be the most interesting thing that is proposed on an instrumental musical level. the lyrics don't tell me anything, they try to give an image of philosophy using very elaborate words or phrases to say basic things, and almost all the songs talk about practically the same thing. my final grade would be around 4 out of 10 or 2 out of 5, being very generous. I won't say it's not worth a listen, I've heard worse things, but it's really not endearing at all. What should be recognized is that in 2009 this album is avant-garde in its style.
really disappointing. What could have been a great album is ruined by awful vocals.
This is like the beatles for bands like the national
I don't know quite who this is for. There are a few songs that are approaching being quite good, but there's also a whole lot of weird caterwauling going on. The lyrics are a whole thing in and of themselves, but the whole thing is only 37 minutes, which I appreciate. I'm thinking this is a 2.5 star album. On my own personal rating scale, I have 3 as "I will happily listen to this playing in the background," and 2 is "I will tolerate this playing in the background." I think "tolerate" is a bit strong, but it's closer to how I'd feel than "happy."
This one just didn't give me much to work with. There was never a point where I thought it was doing anything all that interesting. Song after song, it just kind of floated by without much personality. Honestly, the best thing I can say about it is that it only lasts 37 minutes. At least Wild Beasts had the decency not to drag this out any longer than they had to. I give it one star for each dancer in the album title.
The falsetto parts were annoying, the rest was okay-ish.
Wild beasts best album
Didn’t care for this.
Merkelige greier. Hata plata første halvdelen så ble den plutselig ganske bra mot slutten. Ikke fan av den Operastemmen.
Hørt på solsenga på Granka. Helt okei, veldig 2009 skins-musikk.
Har en del bra musikk, men kombinasjonen av tekst og synging er til tider helt skrekkelig.
It's not bad, I remember listening to it back in the day, but it doesnt do too much for me.. a lil derivative yknow
sorry to be negative but when i hear something like this it just pisses me off to no end
It was nice enough that I listened to it twice yesterday; but for the life of me I couldn't describe a single one of the songs this morning.
putting this on the list is a choice.... that voice is tough. it's very 2000's indie rock synth
alright, now we're switching it up, now we've got some absurdly dreamy late 2000s indie music. this album has a very... interesting sound to it. it's like if david bowie and indie synthpop had a little freak baby. there's something here, but i really don't know what it is. it's another indie entry in this collection that's mostly just surreal hazy instrumentation and warbling vocals. it's only about 40 minutes but it feels like a few hours. it's kinda just... audio sludge.
Another album I could definitely have died without having listened to.
Neurazí ani nenadchne. Len tak preplynie jedným uchom dnu a druhým von...
Seems like people who like Hayden Thorpe's voice really like it. I'm not one of those people. So much vibrato that it comes across as lacking control, plus I don't like the sort of "talk-singing" that some people do. "All The King's Men" had me laughing because Thorpe sounds like the gingerbread man from Shrek. I think this would have been a 4/5 for me with a different vocalist, because the band sounds pretty good and some of the songs have a really fun beat or catchy riffs. Very 2000s/2010s style indie drums.
Idk about this one. It was passable I guess. After some of the past few good albums, this one just falls flat.
This sounds like a band who want to be Arcade Fire while desperately and self-consciously trying not to sound like Arcade Fire.
I can see why critics liked it, as they would have to keep listening all the way through, and the music kind of becomes catchy in an annoying way.
Not my cuppa. It’s the vocals that I mostly don’t care for.
I really wanted to like this one. Musically, it’s fantastic, but the vocals were a huge turn off on this one. I quite enjoy falsetto vocals most of the time, but this was less singing and more shrieking. It unfortunately kinda ruined the experience for me because I think these guys are a pretty good band beyond that.
Started nice, but sounded so much like David Bowie. After a while it just dragged and was semi one note.
The vibe comes of as kind of sad and slow. The instrumentation and music is not bad. There's some interesting stuff going on but I can't get past his totally annoying vocals. Not just his warbling opera voice but his sense of melody is just something my brain wants to spit out. Yuck. no thanks.
2/5 Wasn't really my type of indie rock music
Alright. Arcade fire lite.
Mér fannst þetta nú ekki neitt voðalega merkilegt. Söngurinn yfirgnæfði og eyðilagði eiginlega ánægjuna við að hlusta á plötuna. Mjög auðgleymanlegt.
A snoozer
I wanted to enjoy it but that falsetto is just too awful to ignore
Ya cuando escuché en la primera canción "This is a booty call / My boot my boot, my boot, my boot up your arsehole / This is a Freudian slip / My slipper, my slipper, my slipper, my slipper in your bits", sabía que iba a costarme continuar con este álbum. La primera parte fue difícil de digerir: el vocalista usa un tono de voz tan agudamente insoportable que a la segunda canción pensé en abandonar; a partir de Two Dancers (ii) es que empieza a relajar con ese pésimo falsetto y el disco se vuelve más tolerable. Siento que algunos temas podrían haber sido mejores directamente como instrumentales, siendo que la lírica y el estilo narrativo los empeoraban en vez de mejorarlos, honestamente... Dentro de todo, podría haber sido peor. Destaco algunas canciones, a pesar de saber que no volvería jamás a escucharlas. ↑: We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues, Two Dancers (ii), This Is Our Lot, Through The Iron Gate ↓: The Fun Powder Plot, All The King's Men, Two Dancers (i)
..
A bit too much wailing
meh. It's okay. Did it influence other artists or just emulate them?
There’s definitely something in this album, it’s not bad, but it feels very of its time. There was a lot of bands prior to this album doing the same thing, and while this album is a pleasant listen, I didn't feel a meaningful point of difference that made me want to revisit it
Simple, inoffensive, and unnecessary.
I don't think I have ever been as enthusiastic about an album's opening notes, then so thoroughly disappointed upon hearing the vocals. Fucking absolutely hideous. Terrible disappointment. Like the male version of Bjork (who I also very much dislike). Boyjork. In several of my reviews, I have mentioned that albums would have been much better as instrumentals. After 400+ albums listened to from this list, this album is the king of that category. I can't even enjoy the REALLY GOOD music for the terribly distracting singing. Music: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Vocals: -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Total: generously, ⭐⭐
Was 2009 a particularly poor year for music? I don't remember this at all, and to be honest, no wonder.
boring
Another late 2000s indie UK band makes the list… I remember listening to this back in the day and kinda enjoying it… In reflection, the lyrics and vocals are testing a lot of the time when Hayden (?) is singing and much preferred the tracks with Tom (?) on vocals. A mercury prize nomination? Glad this lost out to The XX
??? Fave track: The Fun Powder Plot
Bang average with some annoying vocals. 2.5/5
not really sure why this is an album i need to listen to. so mid
I liked the post Rock instrumentals but not the high vocals
Pretty much everything I hate about 2000s indie pop. Whiny falsettos, unintelligible thoughtless lyrics, lack of variety. I'd rather listen to the neon trees. Giving it a two because some of the more instrumental songs are mostly tolerable.
An okayish indie-pop album weighed down heavily by a fairly generic sound and an unfortunately brutal vocal performance in parts. There is no reason for the vocalist to push falsetto in as many instances as he does when it's incredibly rough, and detracts from an album that doesn't have much else standing out about it. The best moments are when he stays in a much more comfortable register, and the songs are elevated in a way that makes it surprising how under-utilized it is. Disappointing overall. Top tracks: All The King's Men, Two Dancers (ii)
Music is pretty good. Vocals are horrendous.
Couldn’t listen past track 3, ‘cause I decided a better use of my time was to clean my toilet
A tad too whiny.
Pretty forgettable
It was fine, nothing special. Good music to have on in the background but nothing I would regularly listen to.
Forgotten already
Instrumentals were not bad but I could not stand the singers voice at all
Would make an ok instrumental
Hey that's pretty artsy, two stars for the music and that's generous given the vocal performance.
Immediate first impression is that Everything Everything do a similar (but better) thing musically, vocally and lyrically, but I'll concede that there's some great complex drumming going on all through the album. Maybe this one's very much of its time and just hasn't aged very well?
Some good ideas in here that have all been executed in the most annoying way possible. When I’m sleepy… however was not one of those, that was an awful idea that was executed in the most annoying way possible. 2
Nothing really wrong with this just don't enjoy the vocals. Just not for me
I started off feeling hopeful that this would be a gem - I enjoyed the initial sound and instrumentation of the opener, but it soon became apparent that it was vocally odd. The falsetto in Fun Powder Plot, Hooting & Howling and When I’m Sleepy put me off, by the 5th track I was over it. Although I appreciate strangeness sometimes, unfortunately this wasn’t at the level I deem enjoyable.
Slow, quiet, ethereal. but in the bad ways. Not my thing. 2/5
dance pop, 2009 -> 2
Definitely not a favorite. I enjoyed it in a lower register but not on the high parts
2.5 - Meh
The music is nice but the singing is hard to get past
This album was pretty unmemorable. Very reminiscent of a lot of music of this time. Kind of like a less punchy Animal Collective. Overall- pretty mediocre. 2.5/5
Admittedly I only gave this one a quick listen due to the speed of the day. I liked bits of it but admittedly it started off very sketchy and almost scared me off. It hits a stride part of the way through but ultimately its too hit and miss for me to want to listen to the whole album. I may just listen to a song here and there. It does make me wonder how other albums sound though. Biggest Hit - Empty Nest Biggest Miss - The Fun Powder Plot Hidden Gem - We Still Got The Taste of Dancin On Our Tongues
I have very little positive to say about this.
Musically it is somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, it got boring to me pretty quickly. Not for me.
Never head of them. Thought I would hate it based on the description. I didn't, but I didn't like it either. Too theatrical with way too much falsetto. Don't need to hear this again.
Didn’t need a listen before I died
Decent enough album, but I really don't care for the high-pitched vocals a lot of the time.
I had never heard of this group, so I came in with an open mind despite peeping at some of the reviews in advance. I was honestly vibing to the first song until the vocals came in. My word, what an atrocity. It's a damn shame, because the music is honestly great. The singer needs to go.
Creo que me gustó, pero dos por ahora, volvería a escucharlo
Ikke for mig, men det mindede mig om hvor meget jeg elsker Kate Bush, så det var da godt for noget
Why
Yeah, nah.
Uh…I don’t mind the vocals so much as a find the lyrical content fucking lame. And I just got so tired of it. At least spice things up.
Had to turn it off x
I didn’t really like this one that much.
2/5 - Not my thing at all, pretty generic
i dont really know? proc porad houkaji
They just seem to be reaching for weirdness to the point where I thought “I bet their parents have Wikipedia pages”. Turns out they don’t, but two (2) stars for you anyway.
The instrumentals on this album were great and I felt like I was drawn into most of the songs. The vocals kind of threw me through a loop though and can safely say was distracted by some of the choices in some of the earlier tracks. Good, but not really my style.
This was a crappy way to start the New Year but that's pretty much par for the album choices made for this project. The fatal flaw with this entry is the vocalist. What's up with the theatrical falsetto? It's not good and taints all that it touches which is pretty much every song on this album.
Some of this was interesting in a cool way, but I didn’t like it
jao ne znam... malo podseca na Alt-J... neke pesme su oke, neke nista spec.. ni tamo ni vamo
forerunners of the mid 2010s indie alternative movement, definitely not timeless
Thought this album was gonna be great until the singing started. Album feels like something college kids would lie to themselves about and say they liked it so everyone around them knew they don’t listen to “popular” music.
2 Stars (5/15)
dit vond ik soms leuk maar t nummer A Simple Beautiful Truth vond ik meer vibes, ander album tho
hmmm interesting. I'm not really diggin it. The voice is too theatrical 2 stars
Boring!
Liked some, hated some, some was just annoying.
I couldn’t stand either of their voices. Mediocre at best. Indie rock dud
Eh, understated and underwhelming.
English indie, não é ruim, mas merece no máximo 2,5
11/25/25. Just meh. Appreciate this group striving for a different sound for this era, but didn't excite my ears much. Songs are rather mellow and slower, don't really go anywhere. But, doesn't follow a pop formula which I'll give credit.
Musically, 'Two Dancers' is okay, but the singers are absolutely DREADFUL! With so much silly falsetto and whiny shrieks, it gets grating real quick, and as its over inoffensive, generic indie rock/pop, it's really not my thing. When the singers (Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming) put away their falsetto, it's at least listenable, if forgettable, but goddamn that falsetto is just woeful. It's like they listened to The Smiths, Radiohead and The Darkness and found the falsetto parts were the best aspect of each band and incorporated it heavily into their own sound. I'm terribly sorry to Wild Beasts, but you don't belong in this list. Best songs: Nil
There are parts of this I like, some of the beats, sound and vibe. The title track starts in a similar vein to an XX song. But when all the elements are put together and it turns out pretty average.
Fav song: This Is Our Lot Fantastic instrumentation but I cannot stand the musical theatre injection of vocals. Sometimes they really nailed it with the softer vocals, but it was too few and far between. Definitely can tell it was made during the era that The Temper Trap were popular.
I'm not familiar with Wild Beasts, but I tend to enjoy indie rock albums from this era, so I think there's a good chance that I'll like this album. Reading some of these reviews, I see that the vocals are a bit of a turnoff for some people, but I enjoy some of the most reviled vocalists on this list (Neil Young, Tom Waits, etc.), so it'll take more than kooky singing to scare me! Well, unfortunately, people were right about those vocals. I really didn't care for the falsettos that cycled through this album. I didn't mind the lower register singing though, and it actually reminded me of the vocals on Elbow's album, which was a plus. Vocals aside, I wasn't really into this album. For about the first three or four songs, I thought Two Dancers had some really solid rhythms, and there were some percussive elements that I really enjoyed. The rest of the musical elements were fine, but I didn't think that most of these songs were anything special. I really expected some catchy hooks and melodies on this album, but that just wound up not being the case. There was so much great music coming out around this time, and Two Dancers definitely gets overshadowed by albums the XX and Tourist History. Even though the first few tracks were pretty good, this album just didn't do anything for me as it went on. I wasn't that into the lyrics, and the vocals just grated on me as this album didn't do anything for me musically. However, I thought "Hooting & Howling" was really good. I loved the gentle keyboard melody, and the guitar sounded great when it came in. The bass provided a really good groove, and this was easily the most fun song on the album.
Insouciant indie-rock riffs and Russell Mael-style vocal histrionics - two great tastes that...don't work that well together, unfortunately. I appreciate the attempt to do something different but this blend ain't hitting for me. And the lyrics - what in the faux-fey arrested development is going on here.
Hmm. Okay. I think this one actually belongs in 1,001 Albums You Might Get Around To If You Feel Like It.
Further evidence that the person assigning genres to these albums is a raging alcoholic who dabbles with mushrooms - the only thing "rock" about this album is . . . nothing. Nothing at all about this has anything to do with rock. Not much of a review, is it? That's because even though the album is playing while I type, I can't remember anything about it. Good or bad; this might be the most forgettable album I've come across. Influence 1. Hits 1. Quality 2. Intangibles 2. It's fine, just totally forgettable 2.
Didn’t do a whole lot for me. The vocals grew on me a marginal amount and the music behind it was good enough to be productive listening to it as background music.
I like 00s indie but this were pretty forgettable 43 minutes and I think there are so many better albums that could've been included on this list - it's one of those albums I simply don't understand why should I or others listen to before we die.
Did not like the singer
It's like if you took Radiohead and made it whinier and tried to be even more artsy and stuck up about it. This was a bit tedious to listen to.
I wish someone didn't tell him that his falsetto was impressive. This album could have been avoided. 2.
The music was fine. The vocals were not. Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 1/5
Falsetto dance music Hooting & howling Empty nest
Interesting, but not one I’ll come back to.
Of all the great indie albums from this era, this one? Instrumental parts are solid, but can't stand the singing at all - hard to listen to this album.
mediocre radiohead dance pop
I was ready to enjoy this album. But the nonstop falsetto is a killer, and the lyrics don't help.
Not particularly enjoyable
Didn’t care for the falsetto. Not bad as background music.
Well-produced, but ultimately very forgettable. Not a single standout moment.
Couldn't get into it
I did not enjoy this album; I definitely did not need to hear it. But, it wasn't all bad. I think I could probably enjoy a pretty good single plus a B-side, I just didn't have the patience to figure out two songs I liked.
I really love the production but I dont vibe with the vocals. Just finished. Definitely not for me but I don't think it is objectively bad music.
Two dancers, two starts, get me more dancers, get more stars.
Ugh whatever.
It was okay I guess
For a while I thought the songs were in Latin. I found it hard work and had this nagging sense as I went on that it sounded like a falsetto Editors. My favourite track was All The King’s Men.
I do not care
So, I'll start with the nice things. His voice has some pretty incredible range, in both pitch and timbre. It's actually pretty impressive. The guitar playing is also pretty interesting and pretty good. But that's about where the good things stop. His voice is impressive in range, but it doesn't ever really sound that good, imo. He does have his moments, though? I thought about giving up on this album around the halfway point, but I'm glad I didn't, because "This is Our Lot" ends up being his best singing performance. The instrumental moments give the songs hope before being dashed away. And then, oddly, some of the musical moments behind the singer play down to his level, so to speak, and just aren't as good??? I don't really understand. I'm just left scrunching my face so much while listening to this, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It's just a really weird inconsistent album. It gets some props from me for the range, but not the quality, of the singer. Favorite Song(s): This is Our Lot
Musically this has some interesting moments, but oh my god, that vocal! Really can't stand that style of singing.
Pretty interesting from a lyrical perspective; additionally, the songs that Tom Fleming sings are palatable, and even though Hayden Thorpe largely annoys me, I admire his diversity as a vocalist. Musically, there's just not a lot for me here. I find this particular brand of indie rock pretty listless, and there's absolutely no good reason why this album should be included here. 2.5/5
A ver, a mi me gusta el brit-indie-pop como a la que más, pero siento que si este album no fuese de unos ANGLOS no estaría en la lista. Es que suena como muchas otras cosas indie que se estaban haciendo en esa época ¿no? Un poco de vocals quirky por aquí y melodías de muchas capas y mucho proceso mental por otro lado. Que algunas están bien eh, pero no las volvería a escuchar porque las vocals parecen algo que sonaría en una convención de usuarios de tumblr y eso me da mal rollo. Favs: ¿Two Dancers I? y Through The Iron Gate porque cantan poco rato
Empieza medio interesante aunque se torna genérico demasiado pronto. Parece que quiere intentar algo conceptualmente pero no llega a hacerlo. Ni siquiera había oído hablar del álbum antes, así que dudo de su condición de imprescindible, pero bueno, seguro que los hay peores. Mi fav es el opener. Todo lo demás me ha pasado relativamente desapercibido /:
Este disco es como si Tiny Tim hiciera indie rock. Hay una producción interesante debajo de vocals que te sacan completamente de onda en cuanto empiezan a sonar. Entiendo y apoyo bancar a los artistas locales, pero cuando estás haciendo una lista de 1001 discos esenciales me parece que se debe dejar la parcialidad detrás para genuinamente construir algo que vaya en sintonía con el título tan absoluto que se presenta. Nada, en mi opinión otro sneak del UK por parte del editor (que es del UK). No me parece que sea un esencial. Hoy no va nada a la playlist :(
super weird album again....what's with this list?
Erstes Lied ganz nett, dann aber nicht überzeugend.
Bir şarkı hariç meh
Ultimately just not my type of music
I can’t say I really liked it disliked this album. I listened to it yesterday and nothing really stuck with me.
Not bad but not memorable just background music.
I only made it through a little over half the album, but didn’t care much for it. I found the intermittent falsetto really annoying. Two stars.
Not really anything I liked about this. 2 stars or D-.
Ganska less på denna typ av indiemusik.
Incoherent lyrics trying too hard to be unique.
Meh
2.5
Honestly i really did not enjoy listening to this album all that much the biggest problem being the vocals. Hayden Thorpe is another one of those vocals from the 2000s who tried to be the next Freddie Mercury but can't. Something I've often noted about Matt Bellamy, but I at least find the music of Muse far more interesting than this. Not to mention Thorpe is far more screechy. I didn't think this was necessarily all that bad, some of the music reminded me City and Colour, but for the most part it didn't really stand out to me than typical millennial indie pop (5.5) ★★½
A pretty drab and dime a dozen indie record. The last song was probably the best. 2/5
*2009. British indie rock. *Quiet, boring, some weird percussion. *Okay for background noise while reading. RATING - 6/10
Not a big fan, his voice was not good. Once again why is this on the list.
I didn’t feel like dancing
I’m glad the whole male baritone and falsetto indie fad died out.
Ah yes…the music of my people! My people being white, millennial hipsters. Some songs I liked, others I didn’t. I’m not sure I would have liked it anymore in my peak hipster days either though.
actually i really liked the instruments and songwriting his freak ahh singing i cant stand arghh its only okay in two dancers(ii) 2/5
Some of these so-called indie rock albums are the popular equivalent to 12-tone music. This is Art with a big A, screaming "Look, this ART". That goes especially for the singing, but the songs are nothing to write home about either. Really, this is tedious. 2/5
Overall: 4/10 I would have enjoyed this a lot more if the vocals weren't so awful. Multiple people heard that falsetto before it got approved. That's infuriating. Other than that, the instrumentals are calm and pretty. I wish I liked this more but there's no getting past that voice. Fav Song: All the King's Men
I can see why some people would enjoy this, but it's not my thing. The falsetto vocals are kind of annoying to me.
Snoozer.
I remember a lot of hype around Wild Beasts and when I listened to their music I didn’t get it. I still don’t. A couple of decent songs but interspersed with mediocrity and an awfully high pitched voice, not for me.
it was alright
I didn't dislike it but I didn't enjoy it that much. I got a little bored listening to it honestly, I feel like quite a few of the tracks sound too similar. However, the song "All The King's Men" is fire, I've had it on repeat all day.
you sure about this one, mr. dimery?
I just didn't really enjoy it
I haven't listened to Wild Beasts in at least a decade. As this album began I thought, “This is groovy. Why don’t I listen to this more?” And then Hayden Thorpe started singing…
This album is very of the time it was made. Everyone seem to be doing this sound. Given that I'm not sure what's really different in this album from any of those others from this era. Its okay.
The music was decent but the vocals killed me
That was certainly an album.
It sounded like the soundtrack of an absurdistic musical or film. I kinda liked two dancers i (the song) and through the Iron Gate, and there were a few interesting lines in the songs I guess. To far out for me though, and I found the 'falsetto' vocals to be distracting mainly.
Weird and unenjoyable. First song was good but it was all downhill from there.
well done but not my preference
Liked the music. Disliked the vocals.
Musically, it's okay but the vocals are a major turnoff. The band really needs to hire a competent singer instead of a high pitched, whiny warbler who sounds like he's sucked too much helium.
No me movió mucho
Fue la mezcla entre el disco de arcade fire y el de sigur ros. Para mí: un embole
indie rock 4.5/10
Now I know why I've never heard of them before. Nothing remarkable on for me.
Repetitive
Not my fave. But, certainly not as bad as I think a lot of these reviews make it seem. The vocals are pretty brutal, not gonna lie. It's decent. Frankly just surprised it's on this list. Fave songs: - The Fun Powder Plot - Hooting & Howling - All The King's Men - Two Dancers (ii) - This Is Our Lot
The second track was decent, but the rest was just completely unmemorable.
Not really much to this album for me. I enjoyed the twin title tracks and one or two songs after them, but otherwise nothing really caught my ear - it sounded like it was being quirky for quirky's sake.
The voice was unbearable for half of it and the music behind it wasn’t good enough for me to ignore that.
The falsetto voice suuuuuucks, and the lyrics aren’t helping. Right from the opener, you’ve got bad lines like “disowned us daddies like the poopers of the party,” delivered with an off-putting cadence that plagues a lot of the album. Thankfully, tracks 8-10 save this from being a total disaster. This Is Our Lot actually cooks, and the transition from Underbelly into Empty Nest was genuinely a cool moment. Standout: This Is Our Lot
No thank you
complicated. feels lilke a fever dream
Does improve a bit in the back half. But of all the 00s indie rock that could have been included on the list, this choice is pretty uninspired.
Meh. indie
This is a big nothingburger with only the vocals being memorable for all the wrong reasons. It’s like they went through the Mercury shortlists and picked out the most annoying ones on there
Some interesting pieces; some too odd wondering why this album is on this list.
lowmid
Really not too sure what to do about this one. Music is kind of cool but weird vocal stylings are a bit of a turnoff. Kind of growing on me over time, but is repellent enough that I’m not sure I’d seek it out again. OK in small doses.
ns sin mas
This wasn’t for me unfortunately. I appreciate the musical talent on this album but it was really slow, and it had all the vibes of the pop music that I hated as a kid cause it was everywhere. Very “Coldplay-esque” so if that’s your thing you will probably love this. That being said I liked this way more than Coldplay. In fact I saved the songs “all the kings men” and “the fun powder plot”. But yah at the end of the day this just isn’t for me.
In all honesty these vocals remind me of someone doing a dreadful impression of the man from sparks 2/5
Music was very cool but vocals were unbearable.
It’s ok.
377/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
The first track was strong but the subsequent tracks droned identically to the first. It was repetitive and some of the lyrics.... well, the first and final track were good. The middle was meh.
I don’t like deep vibratos. Falsettos are weak and no support. Sorry terrible lead singer. Music is meh.. but I’ll have to say the production is solid. It makes a less appealing album appear “better”. Every-time I expect it can get better because of the production. Even though it didn’t, it helped me finish the album. Otherwise I couldn’t even finish it..
Such a tease. The music started off so good and thought I was going to get a solid indie rock band and then the voice. Just so bad.
Pretty forgettable, except for the Elmo-sounding falsetto lyrics in the beginning of the album. Maybe it deserves a second chance, I just don’t know if I’ll ever get back to it.
I love the music. I hate the vocals. Find a new lead singer.
p923. 2009. 2 stars. Decent production and handful of half decent songs do not make for essential listening. And I cannot be doing with one of the singer's squealing falsetto, it makes my ears bleed. Note to self: if no-one is talking about an album more than 5 years after it came out, it's not essential listening.
2/5
Very mid-late aughts indie. It was really missing that one song you could drunkenly dance to at your local dive bar while you ignored the thoughts of your student loan debt and the fact that you paid for your PBR in quarters.
Ei tää indie vaan uppoa. Tylsääää
Jos joku väittää et aukeaa vasta useamman kuuntelun jälkeen, ei itse ole kuunnellut tätä kertaakaan. We still got the taste dancin' on our tongues sisältää sellaista menevyyttä, mutta laulanta on vaan ajoittain aivan kamalaa määkimistä. Ei, ei ja ei.
Noh tasapaksua indiemenoo mistä ei jäänyt mitään mieleen kun taustalla soi
Nyt ollaan kyllä taas meikäläisen makuun liian indie kulmassa. Kollega sanoi, että nää indie levyt aukeaa vasta muutaman kuuntelun jälkeen. Mutta mitä jos ei vaan yksinkertaisesti pysty edes kuuntelemaan yhtään kertaa
Kivan kuuloista instrumentaalia joka on valitettavasti pilattu ärsyttävämaneerisella laulajalla joka tunkee vibratoa melkein konsonanteillekin.
Meh
I really could not connect to these songs. I really tried but there was such an emotional barrier. I preferred the songs where Tom Fleming was singing rather than the falsetto tunes.. But it was a bit of a battle. Maybe if I listened again, I’d get on with it more but I really can’t be bothered.
I don't like this because I don't like how to instruments sound and I don't like the beats that there are in these songs. I would not recommend this to someone else because I don't think they would actually enjoy listening to the voice of the person signing. I give this 2 stars.
I mean, I didn't hate it, but nothing in here makes me want to listen to it again. The singing is irritating at times.
Meh. Like super market music
Woah, more turgid British indie, no thanks. Rated O - Oneida is an album that was also released in 2009. Also The Planets are Blasted - Boston Spaceships. Belting American weirdness, yes please.
Het duel tussen aan de ene kant de rijke, dromerige productie, en aan de andere kant de repulsive vocalen van de frontman. Ik hou wel van dissonantie, maar hier doet het afbreuk aan de zalige instrumentaties. Ik kan er daardoor gewoon niet helemaal inkomen. Het is wel al veel verrassender en dynamischer dan het voorgaande album. 6/10 Highlights: We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues
This one is really frustrating because there are clearly the groundworks of a good album, but it's still so far from its potential. I'll start with the vocals, my God they are annoying, definitely the consistently worst thing about this album. But I have to give it to the musicianship, these are clearly talented people who can write an amazing song and play their instruments incredibly well. You can tell that so much passion and emotion put into these songs, but most of them feel like they end a bit too soon before they really got the chance to show how far they could have gone.
Gee I sure am glad that I listened to "Two Dancers" by Wild Beasts. Now I can finally die without regrets! Favorite track: Hooting and Howling
didnt like this one oop
I did like some songs, but overall not for me. Kinda annoying. 2.5 stars.
Hooting & Howling We Still Got the Taste of Dancin' on Our Tongues
Boring, reminded me of arcade fire
Somewhere out there is a musician whose wonderful music was absolutely destroyed by the operatic diva bullshit vocals on this album.
Not crazy about the singing. Not my thing.
Eh. Two Dancers was dream-pop, had ambience, and was relatively smooth--but to its detriment it melded together into one blob. If this was solely an instrumental album, my opinion would be more favorable, but I didn't care for the vocals at all. The album did start positively, but then the vocals kicked in, and I tuned out.
An insufferable vocal performance over what where pretty great instrumental tracks. I understand art rock is weird and expressive in ways that are unconventional, but this is too pretentious for me.
This was pretty good background music but it doesn't really seem essential in any meaningful way? I am surprised that I missed a band that was beloved by Pitchfork in the late 00s, though.
Wild Beasts' Spotify description states they are "flamboyant" and "sensual", which I guess means "falsetto" and nothing actually flamboyant or sensual.
I liked it - after getting used to that voice! Almost stopped it, but kept going. It turned out to be good background music for my work day. I also went and listened to some other stuff of theirs. not bad. Not going to be a regular listener, but could come back to it someday.
Weird but ok.
Ambient background noise
Instrumentally solid, but the lyrics are stupid and the vocals sound like a Muppet auditioning for an art school tragedy. No favorites.
not so bad but not so exciting
I didn't think this is as terrible as some of the reviews made it out to be, but then again it wasn't good.
boo this man.
Similar to the xx album. Received a lot of acclaim for some reason but not that great. Pitchfork has the xx album at 3 and this album at 9 on their list of the best albums of 2009. So maybe people were just into that sort of stuff back then or Pitchfork was full of shit, which they often are.
More unremarkable and boring 2000s indie crap. Not really interesting enough for me to care
The only thing more irritating then this album was the traffic I was in when listening to it. That being said I have heard a lot worse during this exercise.
British art-pop. The guy's voice reminds me of Dominick's when he puts on the "ref didn't call a foul" whining inflection that I dislike so much.
My record here is clear. I have an average star rating given of 3.74. I have given exactly 1 1-star review. I love to give the benefit of the doubt. But, this one was aggressively irritating.