Posted on: March 5, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

The Wombats – S/T / 2008 Kids in America / 6 Tracks / http://www.thewombats.co.uk /  http://www.thekidsinamerica.net /

Man, if there was a band that sounded like the prototypal act that has rocketed up the Popworld charts in the last two years, it would be The Wombats. This is not a bad thing, and the band’s brand of pop-cum-indie rock is really catchy. “Backfire At The Disco” sounds as if it was done by The Courteeners (listen to “Acrylic” to see what I mean), but since The Courteeners have no popularity in America, The Wombats will likely be seen as the progenitors of that style. “Kill The Director” follows with much of the same style as was first brought forth during “Backfire At The Disco”. The one major change that I can hear in the band’s sound has to be the incredibly catchy chorus that awaits listeners. This is coupled with a more sedate instrumental lead-in to that chorus.

The subtle shift in sounds during “Kill The Director” do much in crafting a more unique sound for The Wombats. This type of instrumental sound continues during “Moving To New York”, with The Wombats taking on a late nineties approach to emo rock (At The Drive-In, Appleseed Cast) to fuel another shift in their sound. This time, “Moving To New York” is a track that plays on surf and rock genres, even as the accented vocals link the track to the other songs on the disc.  The first complete break with the styles presented on the earlier tracks on this EP comes during “Little Miss Pipedream’. “Little Miss Pipedream” has a very “SMiLE” type of deliberate arrangement and odd instrumentation to it. While the vocals are again what link the track to the rest of the tracks on the disc, this experiment ultimately gives The Wombats a distinct sound that they can continue to refine on albums and singles to come.

Top Track: Little Miss Pipedream

Rating: 7.1/10

1 people reacted on this

  1. hey, it’s caitlin from bright antenna! we
    put out the wombats’ EP in the states. just wanted to
    say hi and THANK YOU for giving the band love. would
    like to talk to you about helping the band more…

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