Spring Break
The Wombats make RI debut
Erin Shea
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: Entertainment
09/17/08 - The Wombats likes marsupials, damn it, and it wants you to like them too! Or at least, that's what the band's enthusiasm suggested last Tuesday night when it performed in Rhode Island for the first time.
The band of Liverpool-based pranksters may not play the most original music (typical Brit-pop actually) but its stage presence and playful lyrics more than make up for that blunder.
While the Wombats' lack of originality may be more evident when listening to its CD, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, when the group is on stage you just can't help but sing along and bounce around till your heart's content.
And really, for all the uninspired melodies in the Wombats' repertoire, there are an equal number of humorous lyrics, that-- if you can catch them through Matthew Murphy's accent-- are definitely worth the price of admission.
The opener, a doo-wop tune called, "Tales of Girls, Boys, & Marsupials" started the show off on an, ahem, interesting note and from there it only got crazier.
What could be expected though? After all, this is the band that has a song entitled, "Patricia the Stripper" about-- you guessed it-- falling in love with a stripper.
It was quite obvious though, that most people were there to hear one song and one song only: the Wombats' current hit (and definitely most commercial song) "Let's Dance to Joy Division."
That's okay though, because the Wombats didn't have, anything to perform outside of the material on its latest album and, after taking an hour to set up, the band didn't even leave us with an encore, which had me a little miffed, but it's alright. The band will learn.
Of course, it did choose the band, Spring Tigers, to be one of its opening acts and that worries me a bit.
Spring Tigers' lead-in, Rhode Island's own Lemon Lime Tennis Shoes, was fantastic, but Spring Tigers was appalling to say the least.
Seriously, the heart arrhythmia I got from listening to the band was not even remotely worth it.
At first the (bad) scene kid vocals and (at some points) backing vocals that sounded like a bird call didn't seem too unbearable, just disappointing after one good opening act, because usually the better act comes out second to pump everyone up. But, I was willing to give the band a few songs to improve.
Then they pulled out the tambourine and all hope was lost.
Honestly, are there any good rock songs that prominently feature a tambourine? If there are, I have yet to hear them.
Come to think of it, maybe the Wombats knows Spring Tigers is awful and put the band on right before it went on so that its own music sounds infinitely better by comparison.
If that's the case, it's pretty damn genius. Who knew marsupials were so crafty?
The band of Liverpool-based pranksters may not play the most original music (typical Brit-pop actually) but its stage presence and playful lyrics more than make up for that blunder.
While the Wombats' lack of originality may be more evident when listening to its CD, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, when the group is on stage you just can't help but sing along and bounce around till your heart's content.
And really, for all the uninspired melodies in the Wombats' repertoire, there are an equal number of humorous lyrics, that-- if you can catch them through Matthew Murphy's accent-- are definitely worth the price of admission.
The opener, a doo-wop tune called, "Tales of Girls, Boys, & Marsupials" started the show off on an, ahem, interesting note and from there it only got crazier.
What could be expected though? After all, this is the band that has a song entitled, "Patricia the Stripper" about-- you guessed it-- falling in love with a stripper.
It was quite obvious though, that most people were there to hear one song and one song only: the Wombats' current hit (and definitely most commercial song) "Let's Dance to Joy Division."
That's okay though, because the Wombats didn't have, anything to perform outside of the material on its latest album and, after taking an hour to set up, the band didn't even leave us with an encore, which had me a little miffed, but it's alright. The band will learn.
Of course, it did choose the band, Spring Tigers, to be one of its opening acts and that worries me a bit.
Spring Tigers' lead-in, Rhode Island's own Lemon Lime Tennis Shoes, was fantastic, but Spring Tigers was appalling to say the least.
Seriously, the heart arrhythmia I got from listening to the band was not even remotely worth it.
At first the (bad) scene kid vocals and (at some points) backing vocals that sounded like a bird call didn't seem too unbearable, just disappointing after one good opening act, because usually the better act comes out second to pump everyone up. But, I was willing to give the band a few songs to improve.
Then they pulled out the tambourine and all hope was lost.
Honestly, are there any good rock songs that prominently feature a tambourine? If there are, I have yet to hear them.
Come to think of it, maybe the Wombats knows Spring Tigers is awful and put the band on right before it went on so that its own music sounds infinitely better by comparison.
If that's the case, it's pretty damn genius. Who knew marsupials were so crafty?
