[phlipcam video + some words] Wild Beasts @ the Paradise

"All the King's Men"

Here's a premise: you have a pair of free tickets to see a band you know next to nothing about and you're already three beers deep. Why not see where this Tuesday evening takes you? That's how I ended up at the WILD BEASTS show at the Paradise last night. I confess that "next to nothing" is actually code for absolutely nothing ...up until last night I'd never heard (or heard of, frankly) the Wild Beasts, but from the sound of ‘em, I figured they'd put on a crazy show, at the least.

First rule of music writing -- well, first rule of life (books and covers, and all that) -- don't judge a band by its name. But you already knew that, didn't you? The Wild Beasts are not wild beasts at all. This five-man (well, four man and one cute girl) UK outfit are not of the rowdy, hit you in your face with an electro-sledgehammer a la Does It Offend You, Yeah? British variety. Rather, these Beasts are mellow to the point of inducing trance, with their dark, dark brand of baroque indie-pop. But they're good. In fact, they're really good. Another widely accepted rule of music writing is trying not to reference one artist when attempting to describe another's sound. But I'm going to go ahead and write that lead singers Hayden Thorpe and Ben Little sound remarkably like Jeff Buckely and Morrissey, respectively.

The pounding mid-work day headache brought on by three additional PBRs and one surprisingly stiff vodka soda at the show allows for that kind of journalistic lassitude. Check out the phlipcam vid above, and then check the Wild Beasts out the next time they come around. You probably won't be sorry.