Bastille – Wild World

Indie Pop

56%

Cast your mind back to January 2013, when Bastille released ‘Pompeii’ and Imagine Dragons released ‘Radioactive’. At the time these two bands on opposite sides of the Atlantic seemed like the next big thing, like they were set to become the biggest bands in the world. Sadly it was not to be. Imagine Dragon’s second album flopped massively and the band now seem resigned to their fate of being a 0ne-hit-wonder. I thought it was a given that Bastille would meet the same fate as their American counterparts, but when ‘Good Grief’ burst onto the scene, a gold standard hit with a memorable video, it seemed like they weren’t going down without a fight.

Unfortunately it’s not much of a fight as the rest of Wild World doesn’t live up to it’s lead single. Most of the album lacks big hooks and the snippets of cult classic movies is quirky at first but quickly becomes overplayed. More importantly the album lacks heart and feels mass produced and uninspired. There are a couple of interesting moments, ‘The Currents’ is surprisingly political and ‘Two Evils’ makes a nice change of pace, but there isn’t enough quality content to justify buying it. In the end it seems life isn’t black and white, rather a subtle shade of grey; Bastille are neither a one-hit-wonder or the most important band in the world. They have another hit to their name but not a good album, not this time.