The Wombats Proudly Present...A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation CD Review

The Wombats first full length CD, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, was released by Roadrunner last summer. This disc contains a number of tracks from the band's Japanese-only debut, Girls, Boys And Marsupials, along with a handful of new tunes.

I caught The Wombats at The Annex in 2007 when they were touring on their self-titled debut EP and thought the show was one of the best of the year. The band's music has the pop-punk energy of the early Buzzcocks, filtered through gallons of self-depreciating wit and three-part harmonies. A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation was originally released in the UK in 2007 and the band had most of these songs in their set when they toured the States in '07.

Both the band's live set and the CD open with the a cappella do-wop of "Tales of Girls, Boys & Marsupials". From here, the band goes into twelve cuts of frantic, post-punk dance floor chant-alongs. The band's lyrics aren't deep but it is sheer fun to pogo along with Murph's wry tales of romance gone wrong.

The band captures the energy of their live shows on this disc so, rather than simply list the strongest cuts from this disc, I thought I would post live videos for each of the stand-out songs.

The Wombats - Kill the Director (Live)


The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division (Live)


The Wombats - Moving to New York (Live)


The Wombats - Backfire at the Disco (Live)


Unlike some of The Wombats' contemporaries, this band has more than one great single and everything that you ever wanted to hear from the band is collected on this disc. Now that this release is almost two years old, I'm waiting anxiously for the follow-up.

Last month, Roadrunner issued a special digital-only edition of A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation (available on iTunes) which contains four bonus tracks:
- Metro Song,
- Derail and Crash,
- Bleeding Love and
- Is This Christmas?

Links:
The Wombats' MySpace Profile

The Wombats - "The Wombats" CD EP Review (Kids in America)

The Wombats make their US recording debut next week with a six song EP on the Kids in America label. A couple of these songs have been out as singles in the UK but it is nice to have them compiled on one domestically priced disc.

There are some real stellar cuts on this disc like "Moving to New York", "Backfire at the Disco" and "Kill the Director". There is such a sense of romantic desperation in these first couple cuts that you know will invite audience shout-alongs at the band's concerts. The slower tracks "Little Miss Pipedream" and "Lost in the Post" are fun but they don't have the same sense of urgency/angst that the first three cuts have. The final cut on the disc is a remix of "Kill the Director" by CSS. It is an interesting remix but I think substituting the band's agit-pop guitar work for keyboard bleeps takes away from the song.

All-in-all, this is a great debut CD from a band that will likely hit mega-status (like Arctic Monkeys) here in the US. I can all but guarantee that the band will be playing bigger clubs than Annex their next time through town.

Sophomore CDs are always a curious thing so it is great to see that The Wombats are continuing to turn out some great tracks. The newest single, "Lets Dance to Joy Division" would fit perfectly on this EP. It is also kind of fun to note that the band is selling live downloadable versions of "Kill The Director" from each of their recent shows through their webstore.


Links:
The Wombats' MySpace page
The Wombats' Website

The Wombats - Photos from The Annex, NYC 8/15/07

I thought The Wombats' show last night at the Annex was fabulous. The club was packed and I read on NME that the show sold out. The band was "on" and played a hot 50 minute set. I don't know all of the band's material so I couldn't put together a set list but I recognized "Acapella/Girls, Boys And Marsupials", "Kill the Director", "Backfire at the Disco", "Moving to New York" and "Let's Dance to Joy Division". The band played about 10 songs in total.

The band is a lot of fun live and are almost certain to be playing bigger rooms during their next trip to town.

The band started the set with an acapella number

Murph and Tord Working Up the Crowd


















Murph Introduces The Wombat

The end of a hot and sweaty night of fun

The Wombats Play Annex Tonight (Wed, August 15th)

UK buzz band The Wombats are making their NYC debut at Club NME @ Annex tonight. This should be a great show as the band has generated quite a buzz with their early singles “Lost in the Post” , “Moving to New York” and "Kill the Director". Check out the video below and you will quickly find yourself singing along.

The Wombats - Kill the Director Video


This September, The Wombats will digitally release their self-titled six-song EP that featuring their hit singles “Backfire at the Disco,” “Kill the Director,” and “Moving to New York.”

I would expect the show to sell out so get tickets now or get to the club early tonight. Doors are at 9:00 PM and the band takes the stage at 10:00 PM.

Links:
The Wombats' Website
The Wombats' MySpace Page