Album Review: The Wombats Proudly Present - This Modern Glitch

The Wombats - This Modern Glitch

In theory, the Wombats should be everything I like. Jaunty indie pop music with singalong choruses are normally my bag but until this point the band have always fallen a bit short, despite my desire to really like them. Moving To New York and Let's Dance To Joy Division are decent enough records, but I find myself liking them rather than loving them.

This Modern Glitch has changed my opinion, however. Despite that fact that I still find singer Matt Murphy's voice a little bit grating, this album is great. The songs here are certainly more mature, eschewing catchy choruses in favour of more cleverly crafted pop songs. Singles Jump Into The Fog and Tokyo are terrific whilst I also love the forthcoming single release Techno Fan.

The highlight here is probably 1996, a paean to less complicated and happier times whilst hearing Anti-D on the radio the other week made me reconsider whether I actually might like the Wombats after all.

The subtle move from chorus driven radio friendly pop to a more rounded, 'bigger' sound really suits the band and shows off their great songwriting abilities. Whilst the Wombats are not a band that are particularly clever or groundbreaking, I surprised myself by thoroughly enjoyed This Modern Glitch.