Limbo, Panto is the finest debut album by a group since The Stone Roses one back in 1989. Each song on the album is a labour of love, complete with lyrics of breathtaking scale and accomplishment. It features two vocalists in the form of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming; the former’s voice a unique experiment sent from outer space, the latter’s a strangely compelling darker drawl. When both combine they combine to brilliant effect, most notably on ‘His Grinning Skull’, one of the highlights of the album. And that is where the Beasts truly excel. There are MANY highlights on this record, from the effusive opener ‘Vigil For A Fuddy Duddy’, to the excellent ‘Devil’s Crayon’ (keep an eye out for this track live, spellbinding) and the majestic and sprawling ‘Woebegone Wanderer’. The first side closes in more sinister tones with ‘The Old Dog’, containing within it one of the most beautiful and disturbing lyrics of recent times, with ‘A human is hauled from the womb’s wired jaw’, haunting stuff! But they keep up this incredibly high standard; ‘Please Sir’ has a lovely operatic vocal from Hayden and the penultimate tracks of new single ‘Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants’ and ‘Cheerio Chaps, Cheerio Goodbye’, give the album a dramatic and classy finish. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey through this LP, though I fear the less patient listener may lose out here and find it too esoteric.
