22/10/2007
The Wombats will release their eagerly awaited debut album ‘The Wombats proudly present…A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation’ on 29th October 2007 through 14th Floor Records. Produced by the band with Stephen Harris (Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic) and mixed by Rich Costey (Muse, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Mars Volta, Mew), the album’s release will be preceded by the riotous single ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ on 15th October.
‘…A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation’ is an astoundingly accomplished debut; a collection of thirteen irresistibly catchy songs, all shot through with infectious scouse wit. From the dancefloor-filling scuzz-pop of ‘Moving to New York’ to the off-kilter waltz of ‘Party in a Forest (Where’s Laura?)’, The Wombats’ lyrics deal in despair of the most danceable kind. “It’s fun, but with dark undertones thrown in there” says Murph, “there’s a fair bit of self-deprecation going on.” Sometimes anchored firmly in melancholy (the lilting ‘Little Miss Pipedream’) and others that have the immediacy and high-octane fun of a loveable indie romp (‘My First Wedding’), it’s clear that The Wombats have made a debut that far exceeds the weighty expectations already upon them.
The Wombats were born in 2003 when Liverpool natives Matthew “Murph” Murphy (vocals, guitar, keyboard) and Dan Haggis (drums, vocals) met assimilated Viking Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, vocals) at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Three limited sell-out singles on indie label KIDS and a host of rapturously received live shows later The Wombats found themselves the focus of a bidding war that resulted in their subsequent signing to 14th Floor Records in April 2007.
Well ahead of the album’s release, The Wombats have already received a deluge of critical acclaim. NME declared that, “Their jerky punk-pop has the northern grit and romance that makes you want to hold them to your bosom and never let them go”, while Notion described them as having, “Killer hooks, choruses that stick like super-glue and the type of wit that the charts is simply crying out for.” Drowned in Sound put simply, “The Wombats appear to have the world as their oyster.” The band’s singles to date, including ‘Backfire at the Disco’ and ‘Kill The Director’, have also been a mainstay at radio, the latter being Edith Bowman’s record of the week on Radio 1 as well as receiving huge support from Zane Lowe and Colin Murray.
The band’s success has been anchored by a relentless touring schedule, taking in Japan, China, the US, Germany, France and Malawi as well as continuous traipses around the UK. Back in February this year the band became the first unsigned band ever to sell out the 1200 capacity Liverpool Academy. Maintaining their record for incessant touring they are currently co-headlining a UK tour with The Holloways followed immediately by the NME Rock’n’Roll Riot Tour with The Enemy.
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
