The Wombats – This Modern Glitch
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Record Label: Bright Antenna Records
When The Wombats released A Guide To Love, Loss, And Desperation in 2007, they released a brilliant, shiny pop record with hooks laden all over and spit-shined English vocals that made for one of the most fun records of that year. The Wombats return to the same style with This Modern Glitch, but to a much lesser grade of success and a much greater feeling of overall blandness.
The group’s 2007 debut full-length had several outstanding numbers – from the dancey “Kill The Director” to the even dancier “School Uniforms” and “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” to the slightly less dancey but slightly more serious “Moving To New York – but This Modern Glitch has no songs that even compare to those genius pop singles. There are a few that come close, like the sickeningly catchy “Techno Fan,” but on the whole the record falls flat on its face.
Three singles, “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves),” “Jump Into The Fog” and “Anti-D,” were released before the record came out but only “Jump Into The Fog” holds a candle to the success of the last record. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that The Wombats didn’t change their sound in any big ways – the production and mixing sound more or less the same, the vocals still carry an audible sheen and the music is still lighthearted with strings and keyboards to buoy it.
But despite sticking to their proven formula, the group comes up well short with This Modern Glitch. The record is fine to listen to if you’re playing it in the background while engaging in some other attention-consuming activity, but only due to the fact that it’s well-produced and sounds pleasing. Aside from a thin outer veil, This Modern Glitch is a disappointment from a band who most listeners were probably only hoping to get a few catchy singles from.
I couldn't disagree more. Their debut had a bunch of catchy songs that wore thin very, very quickly. This Modern Glitch has so much more staying power.
I will say it took a listen or two to get into though.
I'm not sure I understand the criticisms here. I found this album and band for that matter by chance via this album and have been stuck on it ever since. I'm probably one of the few that have yet to hear the debut, but still, I think this is a fantastic album.
Their first album was absolutely incredible. It was one of the most impressive garage pop albums I've heard in so long. This album was different, but it still has staying power. I just wish they wouldn't have added all of the synth. They're the Wombats, all they need is their talent for writing songs!
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