Wild Beasts are an indie rock band from Kendal in the Lake District. They released their first single, Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants, on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Records. They have released two acclaimed albums, Limbo, Panto in 2008, and Two Dancers in 2009. Lead singer Hayden Thorpe is also known for his countertenor voice.
In 2002, Queen Katherine School students Hayden Thorpe (born January 18, 1986) and Ben Little formed the duo "Fauve", the French term for wild beast, and began writing original songs. In January 2004, the band acquired the drumming skills of Chris Talbot, otherwise known as 'Bert', and changed the band's name to Wild Beasts. They soon moved into their first practice studio at Mintsfeet Industrial Estate, and with the aid of Gareth Bullock (a stand in bassist), began recording their eponymous demo EP in June 2004.
In September 2005 the band relocated to Leeds and Tom Fleming joined as full time bassist. They soon gained a following within the city and recorded their second demo EP entitled Espirit De Corps. The band quickly followed up with a third demo EP titled All Men.
Wild Beasts band signed to Bad Sneakers Records in August 2006. They recorded a live session on 11 November 2006 for Marc Riley's Brain Surgery on BBC Radio 6 Music, in which they performed 3 tracks. On 20 November 2006, Bad Sneakers released Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants. With Hayden's "enormous falsetto voice, which soars over chiming guitars," the single was placed at number 17 in the national independent record labels chart.
In February 2007 Wild Beasts signed to Domino Records. A second single was released on Bad Sneakers Records on 23 April 2007, Through Dark Night,[5] with B side "Please, Sir". In May 2007, music magazine NME listed the Wild Beasts as one of ten bands "tipped for the top."
Wild Beasts' debut album Limbo, Panto, described as "shocking, funny, and above all irrevocable" was released on 16 June 2008, with The Devil's Crayon single following on 30 June 2008.
The band's second album Two Dancers was widely acclaimed; an early review of published on ClashMusic.com reads: "Affecting, audacious, captivating of fantastical flourishes, it's an album to champion 'til all superlatives are spent". The album was released on 3 August 2009 in the UK, and 8 September 2009 in the US. UK newspaper "The Sunday Times" gave the album its Album Of The Week accolade, describing it as "one of 2009's indisputable masterpieces"
The band's third studio album, entitled Smother, was released on 9 May 2011. Along with this release, the band announced the addition of newest touring band member Katie Harkin from Sky Larkin on Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music.
