Live Review

The Wombats – Static Gallery, Liverpool

• 16th Nov 2010

To be honest, the venue seemed a little small, especially for a ‘homecoming’, but it was certainly intimate, full of students and loyal fans. Was it me or was there some irony in what is perceived as a ‘fun’ band, there was some really serious anticipation. They made us wait ages so I couldn’t decide if this was pretentiousness on their part, or just the night not being run well. Either way, the intro of ‘….Rom Com’ perked me up a bit. About time!

You can tell they’re scouse. Sorry to sound corny and stereotypical but, with all scouse bands over the history of time, they do possess the great quick humour and cheek of the area. Mixed with great energy in their animation on stage and melodic sing-a-long harmonies, they certainly look the part and should sound it also. The no-nonsense 3-piece really believe in their music and the 300 people in the room (at most) were really engaged in them so they obviously didn’t mind the wait.

The new tunes have an extra dimension thanks to the Killers-esque synth-keyboard in half of the songs. They have, in their minds, advanced in their general sound, not quite punk but a touch more commercial and radio-friendly. I’m not a fan of bands ‘selling out’, and I’m not suggesting the lads have done so whole-heartedly, but you can’t blame them if they want their songs spread more widely. For what should be a care-free 3-piece shaking their heads and jumping all over the place, the gig sounded too produced and too polished.

Again in their minds, they feel they have improved in their song writing. I should be impressed; however there are no more tunes like ‘Backfire at the Disco’ in this new chapter. They attempt ballads but then appear to get bored playing them so change the song dynamic to ‘punk’, and this happens too often. The night finished with ‘Moving to New York’ and ‘…Joy Division’, and this made the gig better than the previous hour, but these catchy and humorous type of numbers were not replicated throughout the whole gig.

They are grounded lads unaffected by and ever grateful of recent success so it’s hard not to wish them well. However the new songs aren’t as good, and I’m afraid to say that they have fallen into the old cliché of ‘Second Album Syndrome’. They are still original, and this in itself is commendable, but that doesn’t necessarily mean impressive. It’s a shame I don’t feel the second album, as yet untitled, is as much anticipated as the first.