Year of The Wombat
Album number four arrived last Friday for Liverpool-based indie rock trio The Wombats. The project entitled "Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life" is a strong showing for a group that just continues to outdo and top themselves. The follow up to 2015's Glitterbug is perhaps the most polished the group has ever sounded. In an interview with Music Existence, singer Matt "Murph" Murphy said he wanted the LP to be "less synth driven [and] less produced." "I kind of wanted to make an album that at least had the chance of being timeless, and not become outdated," he adds. "So in those terms, it's less production, less synthesizers, less wizardry."
The vocals of Murphy really appear to come to the forefront in this project- especially in second single "Turn"- an indie pop influenced love track essentially about loving the way someone's brain works. The other two singles "Lemon To A Knife Fight" and "Cheetah Tongue" also were strong showings by Murph, Tord and Dan. Cheetah Tongue in particular has this psychedelic funk influence that made this track particularly infectious. Lyrics are "tongue" and cheek, witty and quirky throughout the record- especially in "Ice Cream" and "Dip You In Honey" Most songs are about the city life and love- topics the Wombats often dabble into as of late. (certainly an evolution from their 2007 song topics) The Los Angeles references in Glitterbug seems to carry over to this record as well.
Their British pop-iness about them is certainly embraced in this album- tracks are upbeat and fun and not too serious. "White Eyes" in particular feels like the most "Wombats-like" that a track can really get. Their massive worldwide fanbase has been digging the tracks- as they really have taken their sound and continue to spin it in a way that not only surprises but satisfies.
The British trio has recently toured the US with Future Feats, Blaenavon and courtship- and this summer are taking it to the amphitheaters with Weezer for a US leg. Earlier this year Murphy said “We’ll just kind of be trekking on as we always are, our live shows always kind of take on a life of their own and we never really know what’s gonna happen, but we’re really excited for our US tour and subsequent UK tour, it’s gonna be kind of a crazy year."
