Wild Beasts – 'Through Dark Night' (Domino) Released 23/04/07

Wild Beasts singer Hayden Thorpe's vocals are not going to be for everyone.  A camp, squawked , croaky falsetto he sounds even more idiosyncratic than did Morrissey on the earliest Smiths records and brings an almost gothic, theatrical edge to proceedings.  Such distinctiveness succeeds in moving this away from being just another indie single by another indie band, however, for musically we’re taking fairly straightforward guitar  playing.  Good straightforward guitar playing however-  a great tune in fact with choppy melodic riffs.  The overall affect approaches the beauty of some of the Smiths 60s-inspired nos like ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.’  Nice work.