Singles

The Wombats - Moving To New York

Georgie O'Toole 29/09/2006

Rating: 3/5

Liverpudlian trio 'The Wombats' apparently have an 'astute apptitude for producing scuzzy indie-pop classics', according to their press people. I don't agree with this. 'Moving to New York' is hardly a classic. It's more like a lukewarm 3-and-a-half-ish minute romp through the 'how to be an indie band' guidebook. Nice enough. Nothing special. The kind of thing you won't remember 20 seconds after you've heard it, and on an album would be considered filler.

B-Side 'Party in the Forest (Where's Laura?)', on the other hand, is far better. Amusing lyrics ("Am I in a scene from midsummer nights dream, I thought raves like these died in the 90s") and musically like a catchy little waltz, this song is the one that should have been released. More memorable than its predecessor and more of a compliment to the bands song writing skills, this is an indie-pop tune that's not taken directly from the manual and therefore is more likely to stand out in a world where the mainstream is increasingly indie-centric and therefore more difficult to penetrate unless you have an extra something that sets you apart from the 5000+ guys-with-guitars that are trying to do exactly the same thing.

Time will tell whether The Wombats have that bit extra that will get them attention. More songs like their B-side, and they stand a chance.