THE WOMBATS//
8.15.07
THE ANNEX, NYC
WORDS BY CAMERON COOK
PHOTOS BY ABBEY BRADEN
The formula goes a little something like this: the band is birthed, fully-formed and creatively-coifed, in Britain; the UK press hype them up for months, they sign to an indie record label, and finally the wide-eyed rocker tykes play a New York club to an audience of enamored bloggers, anglophiles and scene-types. The Wombats have made no exception to the rule.
Problem is, the crowd is uncharacteristically jaded this evening, as the Liverpuddlian trio rip through a rather roaring 45-minute set of buoyant guitar pop. Sounding like the Futureheads' young nephews on caffeine pills (complete with jerky riffs and vocal harmonies), The Wombats are well-versed in that kind of songwriting that sounds as if it were ripped directly from their diaries. It's clear that their main objective as a band is to write songs about girls and dancing, and in a world where everyone and their mother finds it necessary to be as high-concept as possible, it's kind to refreshing to not give a fuck and jump around for a while.
"Let's Dance To Joy Division" is the epitome of this, with it's refrain of "We're so happy resounding again and again throughout the venue. New single "Kill The Director" is a cracking tune to say the least, joyously comparing life to a movie-set, warning "This is no Bridget Jones", but it's set closer "Backfired At the Disco" that finally gets the crowd moving, making an anecdote about a foiled first date into a singalong frenzy. The Wombats are good, but in the current Maccabees/Pigeon Detectives/Jack Pe?ħate/etc climate of British pop, it's hard to tell whether they will stand out or blend in. guess we'll just have to wait until they, formulaically, make it back to NYC.
VIDEO
LET'S DANCE TO JOY DIVISION
MOVING TO NEW YORK
KILL THE DIRECTOR