Wombats, The – Backfire At The Disco
Some people have been quick to put The Wombats groundbreaking achievement of selling out the 1,000 plus Carling Academy in Liverpool, as an unsigned act. Down to the fact that Arctic Monkeys fever meant that any act with the merest hint of a swaggering indie approach, was always going to be leaped upon. Since being signed to 14th Floor records and unleashing their debut album, they have set about setting the record straight.
Matthew Murphy’s lurid and demonstrative narrative, the cock-sure strutting instrumental approach and their ill-fated romantic tale-telling is put in a nutshell in
This Et Al – Baby Machine
The first time most of us heard This Et Al was on the split single they did with Forward Russia way back when. The band has been releasing brilliant singles one after another and we finally get a record. This record is limited pressing so at the moment there is only 500 of them out there. So more or less stop reading and go buy. The record was recorded with Richard Green and has crisp and crunching sound running throughout the whole thing.
We get a few songs that we are already in love with “Wardens” “Sabbatical” and “He Shoots Presidents.” They all got rerecorded but they sound crisp and loud and piercing. They don’t sound falsely clean and still have amazing energy. “The Loveliest Alarm” was the most impressive song here. It opens the album with a slight post-rock intensity.
A major label will surely snap this up. As many people need to hear this band. It’s a damn shame there’s only 500 copies of the album out there. A blistering debut and one with massive potential.
By John Siwicki