Wild Beasts @ Brudenell Social Club, 26 July
The days of Wild Beasts taking a kind of 'Martin Amis novel', public-schoolboys-up-to-no-good approach to being sexy are long gone. Tonight’s homecoming sees the four-piece open with Tough Guy; a distant cousin perhaps of the 'fisticuffing waltz' of set mainstay Hooting and Howling, it’s far bolder and blunter, the gymnastics of Hayden Thorpe’s voice more assertive and straddling less the line between being titillated and appalled as he used to.
It sets the tone for much of the new material from Boy King, which frequently bears a strong trace to the issues of sex, masculinity and courtship of its predecessors, but lays things out in colder, more aggressive terms. Big Cat, the strongest of Boy King’s singles, is arguably the take-away track from the new bunch, Thorpe purring over Chris Talbot’s ever-crisp percussive idiosyncrasies.
Ponytail, meanwhile, strips away some of the synthesis of the set in its verse, the chiming guitars more familiar in their tone. It also allows a disappointingly-too-rare chance for Tom Fleming to take centre stage – his fulsome baritone notable by its absence on many of the newer songs.
Their tougher exterior is needed tonight. A homecoming show can go one of two ways: a partisan audience lapping up your every nuance, or increased scrutiny from a crowd that know you better than any other. The Brudenell tonight certainly has the feel of the latter, while those originally drawn to Wild Beasts via the flowery bawdiness and poetic resonance will have perhaps come away disappointed.
The likes of Hooting and Howling and All The Kings Men – the final song of the night – break a slight but noticeable tension amidst a crowd still unpacking their thoughts on a set that is taut and rugged, eschewing the warmth and richness of much of their previous work.
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