The Wombats at First Avenue, Minneapolis (12 July 2016)

We’re unabashed fans of The Wombats—



…not the actual marsupial, which is a fine animal native to Australia (fun fact: a group of wombats is called a wisdom); rather the indie synth-pop Liverpool-based trio, making music since 20003 and out in support of third label full-length, Glitterbug (Bright Antenna Records).



The band was back in town last week for its third proper local concert on the current tour (after last May at the Varsity and a brief slot at December’s Go 96.3 Snow Show) and their audience seems to be only growing.  The show was all but sold out, with a crowd still seemingly getting younger, which is rare for a band that has been around for over a decade.



W♥M gave a heads-up about the band as early as 2007, and yours truly was likely the first DJ in the country to play the band, spinning a limited ‘Lost in the Post’ single, long before the band had signed to any label.  So, we’ve been on board for a while…

Coast Modern

The evening began with a spirited short set from relative newcomers, Coast Modern, a Los Angeles-based duo (Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp) rounded out by a full band and in support of a handful of singles (on 300 Entertainment).



Self-proclaiming themselves “America’s Newest Band”, their forty-minute set was filled with the eagerness and exuberance of a band just starting out, and happy to be reaching audiences everywhere for the first time.

Coast Modern

The released singles (‘Guru’, ‘Animals’, ‘Hollow Life’) were sprinkled in-between even newer tracks, likely destined for their first album, with not much talk between songs, choosing instead to properly introduce themselves with their music.  Grouplove and Cage the Elephant comparisons have been made, but the duo is clearly striking out on their own and returns again in September, opening for The Temper Trap.

Murph

Choosing to open with ‘Give Me a Try’, The Wombats properly introduced themselves to any of the uninitiated with an open invitation to enjoy their music.  ‘Moving to New York’ started uncharacteristically quiet, but quickly built into a dervish, with drummer Dan Haggis pounding increasingly harder, and bassist Tord Knudsen leaping from one end of the stage to the other as his instrument kicked in. “Let’s see you dancing!”, singer Matt “Murph” Murphy asked (but didn’t have to).



Murph recalled the band’s first gig in town years back, and driving past First Avenue that day, being told of the venue’s history, saying how grateful they were to finally grace the legendary stage.  The irony of ‘Patricia the Stripper’ is that Murph’s mother is a Patricia, though the song thankfully has no relation.



‘Pink Lemonade’ was written in Barcelona in the midst of a relationship squabble Murph had, and older favorites ‘Kill the Director’ and ‘Tokyo’ had the crowd clapping and singing along to end the 70 min. main set.



After chants of “one more song”, the crowd was actually given three as an encore, starting more gently with Murph alone singing ‘Isabel’ with its opening lyric, “Two tickets to the rabbit hole, please”.



The new album’s second single ‘Greek Tragedy’ made things more cheerful with the bartender sending a set of shots up to the band following the song, of which Murph viewed the pours and described them as “American-sized” before downing his own.



Fueled by a little alcohol (except for Knudson), the set-ending ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ got everyone moving and singing along with its “So happy” lyrical bridge before the song ended with a crunchy, hard rocking instrumental end.



For bypassing Minneapolis on its initial US tours, The Wombats have more than made up for it, playing here at least three times each for the last two tours, and to ever-growing audiences.  They’re a secret no more- the cat, err, wombat, is out of the bag, and with glorious results.

john (johnc@weheartmusic.com)
♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic