Be proud of us, dear reader, for there was a great deal of restraint involved in the composition of this article.
As we are sure you’re aware, The Wombats‘ last album was, rather brilliantly, entitled Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. So, naturally, our first draft of this article was submitted with the headline ‘BEAUTIFUL LIGHT SHOWS WILL RUIN YOUR LIVE SHOWS’.
Fear not, though, for the light show didn’t ruin the gig in the slightest: in all honesty, we just liked the pun. That’s the problem with us here at One on One HQ – we struggle to restrain ourselves when we get really, really excited about something. It’s for that precise reason, though, that we found ourselves feeling so at home when we went to see The Wombats on their massive UK headline tour. We may be excitable, and full of energy, and up for anything as long as it provides us with a good time: but, we’re not a patch on the three guys we watched tear up the stage at Bristol’s O2 Academy for an hour and a half.
Seriously, we have no idea how these guys do it
To say that The Wombats are full of energy would be an understatement. They may be well into their thirties, but Matthew Murphy and co. are still an absurdly uplifting – and up-tempo – live band.
Maybe that’s because the music they make has always been – and continues to be – so bleedin’ infectious. If you didn’t tear up the school disco dancefloor to the likes of Moving To New York and Let’s Dance To Joy Division when you were a teenager, then we’re fairly sure that there’s something fundamentally wrong with you; and, if you didn’t get that same urge to tap your feet and jump around like a lunatic the first time that you heard the likes of Cheetah Tongue and Lemon To A Knife Fight, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with you.
Their new stuff might just be their most well-rounded yet, too
Indeed, of all the tracks that The Wombats air tonight, it’s the new ones that shine. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Turn is one of our songs of the year so far, but it takes on a whole new dimension when it’s played live. Those reverb-drenched guitars become sharp and crisp; Murphy’s vocals are allowed soar above the mix; and the sheer force of the band’s rhythm section (comprised of Dan Haggis and Tord Knudsen) both manage to show off their significant combined musical prowess and exhibit *just* enough restraint for them to not completely overpower the rest of the track. It’s seriously impressive to watch, and even more impressive to hear.
Go and see them if you have the chance
So, in case you haven’t noticed, we think that you should probably go and see The Wombats the next time they come to your town. In fact, scrap that: we think that you need to go and see them. They’ll come armed with a back catalogue of genuinely indie disco classics, and an enthusiasm that’s impossible not to be charmed by; and, as long as you bring your dancing shoes, we can guarantee that you’ll have the time of your live while you’re there. They’ve got the hits, they’ve got the talent, and they know how to give the people what they want; we think that The Wombats are going to be sticking around for a long, long time.
