Two Dancers Explained

Two Dancers
Type:	Album
Artist:	Wild Beasts
Cover:	WildBeasts-TwoDancers.jpg
Released:	3 August 2009
Recorded:	Ledders Farm, Norfolk, January 2009
Genre:	Indie rock, art rock, dream pop
Length:	37:26
Label:	Domino
Producer:	Richard Formby, Wild Beasts
Prev Title:	Limbo, Panto
Prev Year:	2008
Next Title:	Smother
Next Year:	2011

Two Dancers is the second studio album by British indie rock band Wild Beasts. It was released on 3 August 2009 in the UK on Domino Records, with a US release on 8 September. The track "Hooting and Howling" was released as the album's first single on 20 July. Two Dancers was very well received by critics.

In 2010. It was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 30,000 copies throughout Europe.^[1] As of February 2018 it has sold 54,474 copies in United Kingdom and it remains their top selling album according to OCC.^[2]

Reception

Aggregating website Metacritic reports a "universal acclaim" rating of 83% from notable critics. Pitchfork Media said, "Wild Beasts certainly aren't the first rock band to stand up society's dregs and outcasts, but few others immortalize them on such a wondrous, mythic scale." Drowned in Sound stated, "Two Dancers, then, doesn't so much follow up their debut as announce Wild Beasts as one of our genuinely special bands, one that can compete—in terms of both musical and lyrical ingenuity as well as sheer pop nous—with any US act you've seen talked up in the music press this year."

In 2010, Two Dancers was nominated for the Mercury Prize,^[3] which was subsequently won by the xx.

The album was also included in the 2011 revision of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[4]

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Drowned in Sound	UK	Top 50 Albums of 2009	2009	8
The Fly	UK	Best Albums of 2009	2009	1
The Guardian	UK	Top albums of 2009	2009	3
NME	UK	Albums of the Year	2009	4
Pitchfork Media	USA	The Top 50 Albums of 2009	2009	22
Q	UK	50 best albums of 2009	2009	41
The Sunday Times	UK	The top 100 albums of 2009	2009	5
NME	UK	Best Albums of the Decade	2009	42

Track listing

1. "The Fun Powder Plot" – 5:35
2. "Hooting & Howling" – 4:35
3. "All the King's Men" – 3:59
4. "When I'm Sleepy" – 2:09
5. "We Still Got the Taste Dancin' on Our Tongues" – 4:35
6. "Two Dancers (i)" – 4:06
7. "Two Dancers (ii)" – 2:37
8. "This Is Our Lot" – 4:32
9. "Underbelly" – 1:54
10. "Empty Nest" – 3:24
11. "Through the Iron Gate" (iTunes bonus track) – 5:37

Personnel

• Hayden Thorpe – lead vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11), backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, production
• Tom Fleming – lead vocals (tracks 3, 6, 7, 10), backing vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, production
• Ben Little – lead guitar, production
• Chris Talbot – drums, backing vocals, production
• Richard Formby – production, engineering
• David Pye – engineering
• Lexxx – mixing
• Russell Fawcus – assistance

Notes and References

1. Web site: color . www.impalamusic.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170814015751/http://www.impalamusic.org/arc_static/docum/04-press/2009/PR%20-%2020100127.htm . 2017-08-14.
2. Web site: 'This album is a band at its peak': The full story on Wild Beasts' final album for Domino. Music Week . ben. Homewood. 16 February 2018. 9 June 2018.
3. Web site: 2021-08-16. Wild Beasts, band who brought sensuality to British indie, split up. 25 September 2017. The Guardian.
4. Book: Robert Dimery. Michael Lydon. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. 2014 . Universe. 978-0-7893-2074-2.
5. Web site: Wild Beasts . . 25 January 2014 . select "Albums" tab.