The Wombats - The Wombats Proudly Present... A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation (2007)

The Anglo-Norwegian trio The Wombats are based in Liverpool, where the band met in October 2003 after Tord Øverland-Knudsen (on the right in the above picture) moved from Elverum in Norway to study at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), where he met Dan Haggis (on the left) and Matthew "Murph" Murphy (in the middle). Originally they were a four-piece, with an extra member from California who left very early on in the group's career. However, he was able to get onto the first ever Wombats release entitled "The Daring Adventures Of Sergeant Wimbo And His Pet Otter EP", a very rare EP released on local label Wimbartum in March 2004, which has being going on eBay for up to £99! Another five EPs were self-released, inlcuding "The Hangover Sessions", before their first formal release, their Japan-only debut album "Girls, Boys & Marsupials" in September 2006. Many of the tracks off this album were re-recorded for their proper debut, but we'll talk about that later. The threesome's first single, "Lost In The Post", was released on Kids The Label in September 2006, followed by "Moving To New York" just two months later. Then 2007 arrived, and this was their defining moment. With the video for the new single "Backfire To The Disco" being played a lot on MTV2 (remember, at this time they were unsigned, which was what set them apart from the rest), 14th Floor Records (also home to Biffy Clyro) approached the band, and consequently signed to them, with the indie night anthem "Kill The Director", which hit #35 in the UK Top 40. Things got even better as their Joy Division 'tribute' "Let's Dance To Joy Division" reached the extreme heights of #15. With the re-releases of their first two breakthrough singles in 2008, with only "Backfire At The Disco" charting inside the Top 40, no new material was formally released (although the new song "How To Pack Your Bags And Leave" was played for the first time at a gig at The Picket in Liverpool in February 2008) until the end of the year when two new singles were announced. The anti-Christmas single "Is This Christmas?", which featured Les Dennis in its video, was released on 15th December, and the first piece of new material "My Circuitboard City", with one hell of a video, coming out on 16th March, with a live track entitled "Ostrich City" and a remix of the single track by Tord's other band Sin being the only evidence of new material. The band's debut album is packed full of what you would expect from The Wombats, with choruses from all three members, the instantly-recognisable guitars and Murph's moving lyrics. Watch out for the new album which should be out later this year!

Tracklist:

1. Futile Talks About Wine (Beaujolais)
2. Tales Of Girls, Boys & Marsupials
3. Kill The Director
4. Moving To New York
5. Lost In The Post
6. Party In A Forest (Where's Laura?)
7. School Uniforms
8. Here Comes The Anxiety
9. Let's Dance To Joy Division
10. Backfire At The Disco
11. Little Miss Pipedream
12. Dr Suzanne Mattox PhD
13. Patricia The Stripper
14. My First Wedding
15. Tales Of Girls, Boys & Marsupials (Orchestral Version)

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The Wombats - The Wombats Proudly Present... A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation (2007)