With red-rimmed wayfarers, scuffed Converse and spandex-tight jeans, The Wombats are just like all the other kids in the street – with one exception. These guys are happily angst ridden. Join the ultimate indie-pop outfit this summer as they sing about the injustices and joys of youth – from mums’ burnt roast dinners to dancing to Joy Division on tabletops.
Born in Beatles country, Matthew Murphy (guitar and vocals) and Dan Haggis (drummer) met Norwegian Tord Overlund Knudsen (bass) at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Stumbling upon the marsupial moniker, The Wombats, just days before their first gig, the name soon became synonymous with a frenetic, unassuming, genuinely funny and always brazenly honest sound – not to mention a sea of smiles, happy mosh pits and friendly-enforced clapalongs.
Signed to 14th Floor Records in 2006, debut album, The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation reached 11th in the UK albums chart – a feat they celebrated by winning Best Dancefloor Filler at the NME Awards only months later. Fame, however, hasn’t caused the band to completely cast off their jester hats. Les Dennis appeared in the ‘Is this Christmas?’ video, they met Harold Bishop during a cameo on Neighbours, their stolen mascot Cherub the Wombat has his own MySpace page and one of their hidden tracks is a Norwegian rendition of ‘Postman Pat’.
Advocates of Bridget Jones and cheating priests to get a girl’s phone number, The Wombats write love songs for a generation with ripped jeans and torn hearts. So this August, scoop your greasy fringe to one side and pogo like a madman with a wombat in his Y-fronts.
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