The Wombats have achieved moderate success in the UK (and throughout Europe), yet their lack of popularity in the US remains an enigma (especially while bands like One Direction or The Wanted are allowed to come from the UK and be famous) to me. An indie rock band trio from Liverpool, England (Matthew Murphy, Dan Haggis, Tord Øverland-Knudsen), The Wombats have released various EP's (The Hangover Sessions, No. 3, The Daring Adventures of Sgt. Wimbo and His Pet Otter, and The Wombats EP [which acted as their introductory album to the US under their US record label, Bright Antenna, in 2008]) and three full length albums. Girls, Boys, and Marsupials was released only in Japan in 2005 while their official debut album, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, was released in 2007, and their most recent album, This Modern Glitch, was released in 2010.
Though The Wombats may not be insanely famous, their music is amazing. The lyrics are always perfect and their compositions (all with good, solid back-beats) could not be put together better. Plus, The Wombats make better use of backing vocals than any other popular artist today (check out "Schumacher the Champagne", "Kill the Director", "Last Night I Dreamt...", "Moving to New York", "Jump Into the Fog" for some examples).
While The Wombats have, like most bands, gotten better over time, songs like "Kill the Director", "School Uniforms", and especially "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (all from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation) will always be great, no matter how many albums the band releases. Lyrics like "I don't know why I want to voice this out loud, it's therapeutic somehow" and "everything is going wrong, but we're so happy" and videos which feature an always apathetic looking Murphy never fail to make these songs fun.
"Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" and "Our Perfect Disease" get better each time you listen to them because none of those lyrics in "Tokyo" are anything less than great ("we all need someone to drive us mad" is just good) and both compositions are a perfect mixture of upbeat techno and indie rock.
The lyrics in "Jump Into the Fog" are easy and addictive and the softly building composition makes the song a little too irresistible. "Anti-D" lacks those heavy drums and fast pace, opting for a slow composition, but the lyrics are just sweet as every other song from the band.
"Here Comes the Anxiety" is written greatly and the composition follows those lyrics around, reflecting those emotions and creating a wonderfully simple sound and, adversely, songs like "Valentine" just sound adorable (if you don't look too far beyond the lyrics) and, if the lyrics don't have you hooked in the first fifteen seconds, when that drum beat picks up at that one minute mark it will be impossible not to smile because you know that the song is about to become great.
"1996" is just good (kind of perfect, actually) and, with lyrics like "we kiss with one eye on our T.V. set" and "the more I give the less I get", it's hardly worth mentioning the heavy bass and the strong piano melody which makes that composition as great as those lyrics.
"Techno Fan" is just fun; with mature lyrics and a great beat, it's impossible not to move around to. Plus, no line in any song is more satisfying than "shut up and move with me, move with me, or, or get out of my face", especially when that guitar picks up and those background vocals chime in.
No matter how much I might adore "Valentine" and "1996" or how many times I can play "Schumacher the Champagne" or "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" on repeat, no other song from The Wombats will ever be as great as "Walking Disasters". The composition is perfect and the lyrics could not have been chosen or put together better; the song is altogether amazing. It is one of very few songs that can be played on repeat without becoming tired and lyrics like "right now we need some pop psychology to keep us up-beat" and every single line in that chorus (and every line in each verse and in the bridge..), combined with that great guitar riff and that constant back beat (a strong drum beat is always awesome) makes this song perfect.
The Wombats have this innate ability to just make really good music, so make sure to check out and support the band because their music is great and they deserve to keep making more of it.
http://thewombats-2.warnerartists.com/
- E
Though The Wombats may not be insanely famous, their music is amazing. The lyrics are always perfect and their compositions (all with good, solid back-beats) could not be put together better. Plus, The Wombats make better use of backing vocals than any other popular artist today (check out "Schumacher the Champagne", "Kill the Director", "Last Night I Dreamt...", "Moving to New York", "Jump Into the Fog" for some examples).
While The Wombats have, like most bands, gotten better over time, songs like "Kill the Director", "School Uniforms", and especially "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (all from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation) will always be great, no matter how many albums the band releases. Lyrics like "I don't know why I want to voice this out loud, it's therapeutic somehow" and "everything is going wrong, but we're so happy" and videos which feature an always apathetic looking Murphy never fail to make these songs fun.
"Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" and "Our Perfect Disease" get better each time you listen to them because none of those lyrics in "Tokyo" are anything less than great ("we all need someone to drive us mad" is just good) and both compositions are a perfect mixture of upbeat techno and indie rock.
The lyrics in "Jump Into the Fog" are easy and addictive and the softly building composition makes the song a little too irresistible. "Anti-D" lacks those heavy drums and fast pace, opting for a slow composition, but the lyrics are just sweet as every other song from the band.
"Here Comes the Anxiety" is written greatly and the composition follows those lyrics around, reflecting those emotions and creating a wonderfully simple sound and, adversely, songs like "Valentine" just sound adorable (if you don't look too far beyond the lyrics) and, if the lyrics don't have you hooked in the first fifteen seconds, when that drum beat picks up at that one minute mark it will be impossible not to smile because you know that the song is about to become great.
"1996" is just good (kind of perfect, actually) and, with lyrics like "we kiss with one eye on our T.V. set" and "the more I give the less I get", it's hardly worth mentioning the heavy bass and the strong piano melody which makes that composition as great as those lyrics.
"Techno Fan" is just fun; with mature lyrics and a great beat, it's impossible not to move around to. Plus, no line in any song is more satisfying than "shut up and move with me, move with me, or, or get out of my face", especially when that guitar picks up and those background vocals chime in.
No matter how much I might adore "Valentine" and "1996" or how many times I can play "Schumacher the Champagne" or "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" on repeat, no other song from The Wombats will ever be as great as "Walking Disasters". The composition is perfect and the lyrics could not have been chosen or put together better; the song is altogether amazing. It is one of very few songs that can be played on repeat without becoming tired and lyrics like "right now we need some pop psychology to keep us up-beat" and every single line in that chorus (and every line in each verse and in the bridge..), combined with that great guitar riff and that constant back beat (a strong drum beat is always awesome) makes this song perfect.
The Wombats have this innate ability to just make really good music, so make sure to check out and support the band because their music is great and they deserve to keep making more of it.
http://thewombats-2.warnerartists.com/