Live Review: The Wombats @ The Annex (NYC) [8.15.07]

(photo courtesy of www.clickmusic.com)

It's pretty obvious The Wombats have absolutely no idea where they are or who they're dealing with. The band emerges from behind the curtain and steps, not to their instruments but instead, to the front of the stage where they gather in a tight horse-shoe formation around the main vocal mic. In a scene more reminiscent of an idyllic college campus, the trio begins to "ooo" and "ahhh" their way through an a cappella intro. What is this? Freshman Orientation?

They're singing lyrics, referring to their name, that say: "songs about boys/about girls/ and marsupials." No one can tell if this is really happening or if we've been secretly transported to a surreal hybrid of children's television and the adolescent emotion of Dawson's Creek. The crowd, previously excited, now has a look of trepidation - if not straight fear. These kids are one of the most buzzed about bands in the U.K. and in their first New York show, they're pulling this? But no one is running for the exits either. There is something earnest in the air and it's not to be missed. Even in a dark, bottle-necked bar on the Lower East Side there might, just might, be room for this level of optimism.

The Wombats are the band that other throw-back, 60s influenced "ooooo" and "ahhh," dripping-background-vocal bands would kill to be. Rooney would kill to be this band. Employing the best elements of twitchy British post-punk (think a more melodic Futureheads) and the richest dimensions of a band that has three members who can spit harmony, The Wombats are, musically speaking, way ahead of their peers.

And then there are the songs. Ripping through recent single "Kill The Director" with it's infectious secondary chorus, "this is no/Bridget Jones" and upcoming single, "Let's Dance To Joy Division," the band gets this somewhat suspicious crowd dancing and clapping and even call-and-responsing, "hell yeah." Tell me, please, when the last time you saw a Lower East Side crowd agree to shout "hell yeah" about anything except for Marlboro Reds, PBRs, and Irony?

So, The Wombats slowly get the crowd to buy in. They're young and they don't care what we think. In fact, with protracted on stage banter about things like soy beans, they could just as easily be performing to an empty room. This is really them - not who they want us to think they are.

They close with the predictable, yet entirely satisfying, "Moving To New York" and then return to the stage and encore with "Backfire At The Disco," a song loosely about striking-out at a nightclub. Now, it's likely lead singer, Matt Murphey is talking about a woman and not a live show because nothing backfired at The Annex on Wednesday night. After a dangerous opening, a bouncy band with an undeniable sound won out - even making three-part a cappella intros look cool. And that, my friends, ain't no Freshman Orientation. It's a Ph.D in charm.