Artist Profile: The Wombats
PREFACE: So I’ve had a few days to get my shit together and I successfully drove a car today (and remained earthbound the whole time!), so I figure it’s time to get things back up and running around here. Onwards and upwards then, and what better place to start than with my favorite band to come out of the UK since Guillemots (and yes, I know I’ve been giving that tag out a lot recently, but I promise I really mean it this time).
The Wombats have seized my very mind. Seriously, I absolutely cannot get enough of them. Falling somewhere on the spectrum between the accessible riffs and addictive hooks of We Are Scientists, the harmonizing prowess of the Futureheads (their album’s even got a closing a capella track) and blissful, indie-pop perfection, the Wombats write fun pop songs about cars, weddings, strippers and Sunday night TV (among other things). While the We Are Scientists comparison is a direct product of their guitar-rock trio status and the sheer immediacy of their songs, the bands have also followed similar career paths, releasing a flurry of self-released EP’s before dropping excellent (if a bit top heavy) debut LP’s. In the case of the Wombats, however, said debut LP is a 12-track stunner, though it’s been released by the band not as an official album, but as a mini-LP of sorts, the reason being the fact that nearly all of the material on the record has been previously released on either those four aforementioned EP’s or the band’s two recent singles. It was the more recent of those two singles, “Moving To New York”, that Lizzy first sent me last month, hailing it as the best thing ever. And fuck if she hasn’t done it again; sometimes that girl just gets things so right it’s ridiculous. So yes, “Moving To New York” just might be the best thing ever, at least if my iTunes Top 25 Most Played list is any indication, which “New York” has topped after only a month in rotation. Seriously, it’s like “Trains To Brazil” all over again.
Everything (everything) about this song is perfect – from the moment those rolling drums crescendo with a cymbal crash and the song roars to life to the closing seconds with that out-of-nowhere one-second twinkle noise that somehow rounds things out perfectly. That there are so many individual things to like about this song says a lot about the ability of the band’s three members – bassist Tord (The Fox), frontman Dan (The Rat - who also rocks the keys), and drummer Murph (The Dog), all of whom steal the show at one point or another in the song. The Fox’s adventurous bass line establishes its independence from the rest of the song by straying left and right, up and down and all over the map, while managing to remain a cogent part of the greater whole. The Dog breathes life into the track and sets the energetic pace for the entire song with that opening crescendo, while the Rat takes everything to new heights with that brilliant, soaring chorus (my favorite of the year? just maybe). Furthermore, all three contribute vocals on the song, evident in the group’s signature “ooh-ooohs” that underly the chorus, and it’s this three-headed vocal attack that make the Wombats so fucking good at what they do (more on that later, though).
In fact, everything is executed so perfectly on the track that it’s a wonder that it’s only the band’s second formally-released single, and one can’t help but get excited about the bright future the Liverpudlian trio have ahead of them. My only gripe with the track is that the version I fell in love with (which may be the demo – I’m not certain) is not actually the single version, rather the band went with a rougher mix that actually sounds more like a demo than my original version. I really can’t complain – it’s a brilliant song either way – I just prefer the polish of my version to the one found on the single.
While “Moving To New York” is the real show-stopper, it’s debut single “Lost In The Post” best exemplifies what the Wombats are all about. It opens with a hyperactive synth line reminiscent of the New Pornographers on a sugar high, and doesn’t let up until that shouty “signed! sealed! and lost in the post!” chorus hits about a minute in. But it’s neither the hard-hitting chorus nor the candy-coated synth lines that are the main attraction here. Rather, it’s that “Go to silent, go to silent, go go go!” bridge where the rest of the mix dies down to bring the trio’s heavenly three-part harmonies to center stage that seals the deal. And it’s on these three-part harmonies that the group really separate themselves from the rest of the pack. It’s like they’ve unlocked the secret to indie-pop perfection and are just showing it off in every way possible, and their debut mini-LP, Girls, Boys & Marsupials, is only further evidence of this principle in action.
Obsessed with “Moving To New York” before it even finished, I immediately began the search for more material from them, but was able only to turn up “Lost In The Post”. Thirsting for even more, I learned of Girls, Boys & Marsupials and let out a girlish yelp of glee, before discovering that it was released only in Japan and was available on import exclusively through Rough Trade in the UK. Thus, I got creative and convinced Jamie, one of our more awesome UK readers, to keep an eye out for it next time he was in the vicinity of one of the Rough Trade shops (and by “I convinced” I really mean, ” I sent him ‘Moving To New York’ and let it do the convincing for me”, which didn’t take long at all). He came through for us, and thus we have him to thank for this next track, which further shows off those killer back-up vocals at their very best. “Backfire @ The Disco”, as it’s called, revolves around the tried-and-true subject of dating woes, recounting a date that went horribly awry and and “backfire[d] at the disco” after our hero made an ill-conceived remark about his date’s “whorish dress”. It’s a great, if unremarkable, guitar-pop song for the first minute or so, before a lethal dose of “ooh-woo-ooh-ooh-ooh”s comes out of nowhere to smack you in the face harder than the protagonist’s female adversary herself. This pattern is continued to similar success throughout the rest of the album, and it’s one of the absolute best debuts in a year thats seen a lot of great, young UK bands fighting for the spotlight. It’s hard to imagine the Wombats not coming out on top - or at least doing some serious chart damage - in the new year though, as they’ve got their eyes on the prize and a flawless recipe for indie-pop success in their collective back pocket. Color me un-fucking-believably excited for their debut LP proper in 2007 and enjoy the mp3s below if you know whats good for you.
MP3s:
“Moving To New York” - The Wombats ((highly recommended))
“Lost In The Post” - The Wombats
“Backfire @ The Disco” - The Wombats
Yeah, I know I’m long overdue for my Christmas compilation this year, but it just seems a bit played out with every blog posting a reshuffling of the same few songs every year. Thus, I can’t really make any promises that 2006 will see a Christmas M3 come to light, but here’s an adorable little Christmas gem from the Boy Least Likely To. Seriously, just try to keep from tickling it’s stomach, it’s that cute.
MP3: “Little Donkey” - The Boy Least Likely To