Sunday 23 October 2011

The Wombats - This Modern Glitch - My Take

'Indie Landfill' is a term often associated with Liverpudlian three-piece The Wombats.

Bands commonly classified as this genre include The Pigeon Detectives, The View, The Kooks and Scouting for Girls. The bands are characterised by a softer, less aggressive sound than earlier bands (compare with The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys). - Wikipedia

But whether you classify them into that group or not now appears to be irrelevant, after an even catchier, even more fun follow up to A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation was released earlier this year. The deliciously fetching past guitar parts in the style of Moving To New York and Let's Dance to Joy Division are almost completely absent in favour of some fantastic new synth melodies and bass driven tracks.

It speaks volumes that the label has allowed 6 single releases from the album so far. That's funding 6 videos and single pressings as well as the Radio 1 air-play fees. This implies that the label has some serious faith in the tracks themselves, and their chances of selling.

Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) was the first track to surface and upon first listen it was clear the album was to take a new direction. Track 1 of the album however is ‘Our Perfect Disease’ which introduces a quite danceable side to the Wombat’s music which becomes a recurring theme throughout the album. Jump In To The Fog is somewhat minimalist yet very effective, 6 notes on a synth make up the entire main melody of the song, yet it has a rough and aggressive distortion guitar finale. Anti-D takes a little look over the shoulder taking inspiration from Blur and The Verve in this string-laden ballad, it’s at this point you begin to realise the darker themes for the record.

Almost every song on the album has an enjoyable and strangely uplifting take on a negative theme, that’s a little refreshing and must be recognised. Such was my satisfaction with the album that I went to see them live last month and truth be told it was the most enjoyable gig I’ve had the pleasure of attending. The guys put on a real party for us all and I’m confident there was no one in the room who didn’t thoroughly enjoy the night. The personal highlight for me was the performance of  my album favourite ‘1996’. I urge you check that song out if you need an introduction.



The Wombats will almost never be taken seriously. Singer and songwriter Matt Murphy is a clever chap and capable of writing good tunes, but none of them will ever be virtuoso musicians or song writers that touch the masses. By throwing out fun , danceable indie rock tunes they stick to their best qualities, and put smiles on faces.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Enjoyed this post. I like the Wombats.

Good read :)

Anonymous said...

I actually just got into listening to the wombats :) I love the idea that they'll never "Sellout"

Deso said...

I'm not feeling it.

Publius said...

Great band, awesome review!

david frankcom said...

loving the the Wombats.

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