Flash back to 2004. Two things had just jumped into my brain: The Futureheads (with their fantastic cover of “The Hounds of Love”) and The Killers. On the one hand, angular English post-punk with a distinct leaning toward fun harmonies and unironic cheekiness; ultra-slick synth-soaked 80s-retro pop on the other. It was a good summer, musically. Eventually, the two bands separated in my mind as they went in different directions (slightly slicker angular post-punk and an excellent impression of Bono trying to become Springsteen, respectively). The unasked, unanswerable question, then: what if they had grown together instead of apart?
Unbidden, unexpected, I have that answer: The Wombats.
This Modern Glitch is the second full-length from the Liverpool trio (a series of singles and Japanese-onlys preceded A Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation in 2007) and sees the band growing out of its indie-geek origins and into a very, very good dance band. This isn’t an intellectual pursuit; Glitch is aimed squarely at your ass (that is, getting it to shake). Much like The Killers or the first Bravery major label, they float shiny synths over tight percussion and occasional flashes of (The) Edge-y guitars (bass duties are often handled by the keyboards, lending more weight to their dance-floor feel). That danciness is married to Matthew Murphy’s reedy West Anglia voice (unabashed accent included), some well-timed “ba-ba-ba” backing vocals, and quirk-chic lyrics. It comes off like the guys in the physics lab finally figured out how to impress the hot chick but decided to stay with their faithful lab partner who’s been pining after them the whole time; Glitch is a John Hughes movie for your ears, a kind of sonic Molly Ringwald for the adderall generation.
The best songs on Gitch are when the Wombats are shamelessly grabbing your hand and pulling you onto the dance floor. Square at the front of that pack are three tracks: “Techno Fan”, an ode to falling in love at the disco, “Girls / Fast Cars”, an appreciation of women and automobiles, and “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)”, a rumination on how to escape the speaker’s past; but who are we kidding – it’s not about the lyrics, it’s about jumping up and down and shouting the choruses. The rest of the tracks are a bit more mid-tempo and a bit more hit-and-miss. ”Jump Into the Fog” resembles something off of News and Tributes, and “Anti-D” takes a big, string-swelling look at “Bitter Sweet Symphony” before updating its groove to fit a different generation of head-nodders. For the record, those are not strictly complaints.
The few issues with the record are really two songs. ”Last Night I Dreamt..” is a snooze, uninvigorating and uninspired. The closer, “Schumacher the Champagne”, sounds like it really belongs on an electric Donovan record, strolling amiably down a plugged-in folksie-Mersey-ish sound. It’s not a bad song on its own – far from, it’s distinctly fun – it just has no place pinning down the finale on a record that has such an amazing dance feel. It closes Glitch on a note of confusion, and that’s a shame for such a consistent record.
Overall, though, Glitch is a rock solid indie record with a big dance injection that isn’t diminished appreciably by its few rough spots. Hopefully their appearance at Coachella this year signals both a new album and some US recognition.
Final Grade: A-. A near-perfect party record with only a few minor missteps. Get the whole thing, but about 10PM during your graduation party throwing on “Techno Fan”, “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves), and “Girls / Fast Cars” will push you from “gathering” to “you remember, that party”.
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