The Wombats | |
|---|---|
 The Wombats performing in September 2012; from left to right:Matthew Murphy, Dan Haggis, and Tord Øverland Knudsen | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | |
| Members |
|
| Website | thewombats |
The Wombats are an Englishindie rock band formed inLiverpool in 2003, consisting ofMatthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards). They have sold over 1 million albums worldwide.
The Wombats released several EPs before working on their first full-length albumGirls, Boys and Marsupials (2006), which was released only in Japan and featured some tracks that would reappear on their major-label debut studio albumA Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation (2007). After releasing aself-titled EP in 2008 and touring for three years, they released the studio albumsThis Modern Glitch (2011),Glitterbug (2015), andBeautiful People Will Ruin Your Life (2018), all of which received mostly positive reviews. Their fifth albumFix Yourself, Not the World (2022) became their first No. 1 album, topping theUK Albums Chart within a week of release.
.jpg)
The trio met as teenagers in 2003 while studying at theLiverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Lead singer and guitaristMatthew Murphy and drummer Dan Haggis are both fromLiverpool, with Murphy having grown up inWoolton and Haggis having grown up inGarston, while bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen is a Norwegian immigrant fromElverum. Over the course of 2004 to 2005, the band released many EPs such asThe Hangover Sessions,No.3, andThe Daring Adventures of Sgt. Wimbo and His Pet Otter. Their first official release wasLost in the Post, which was issued as a limited edition 7" single on 10 July 2006 on the London-based indie label KIDS Records and came with a distinctive additional second sleeve in the form of aFedEx ("WomEx") package. In 2006, the band's first album,Girls, Boys and Marsupials, was released solely in Japan.
In January 2007, the band released a second limited edition 7" on KIDS calledMoving to New York (again featuring a second sleeve, this time in the style of a suitcase), then in May that year they released a third single on KIDS entitled "Backfire at the Disco", which reached No. 35 on theUK Singles Chart. This was followed by the band's first full single after signing to 14th Floor Records, "Kill the Director", in late July. Their debut album,A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, coincided with the release of "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (widely regarded as the band'ssignature song) in October 2007 and peaked at No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart. It was followed by a European tour ending with a Thanksgiving party atLiverpool Academy.[citation needed]
The band started 2008 as the opening act at the opening ceremony of Liverpool'sEuropean Capital of Culture celebrations atLiverpool Arena. The single "Moving to New York" was re-released on 14 January 2008 and reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming their highest charting release to date. At the 2008NME Awards, the band was awarded "Best Dancefloor Filler" for their single "Let's Dance to Joy Division".[1]
In April 2008, the band put out their first U.S. release on theBright Antenna label,The Wombats EP. Following this release, the band went on a full UK tour as well as playing dates in Europe and Japan. The band also played forJo Whiley onBBC Radio 1, covering theTake That song "Patience" and thePostman Pat theme song, which bassist Tord sang in his native Norwegian.
The summer of 2008 saw the band perform live at a number of major festivals includingGlastonbury Festival in June andT in the Park in July, opening theBBC Radio 1 / NME Stage set on the Friday. They also playedReading and Leeds Festival on the Saturday and Friday respectively on the Radio 1/NME Stage supportingBabyshambles. In September 2008 the band were filmed for a cameo appearance on Australian soapNeighbours.[2]
The band also announced via their MySpace blog that they would be releasing two singles, a seasonal 'Anti-Christmas' themed "Is This Christmas?" on 15 December 2008, followed by a track titled "My Circuitboard City" on 3 March 2009.
In September 2010, the band announced they were near to completing their second studio album,This Modern Glitch in the MRG Recording Studio in Los Angeles, California. The band worked with producers Eric Valentine andJacknife Lee.
The first single to be released from the album, "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" was released in the UK on 27 September 2010[3] and debuted on theUK Singles Chart at number 23; marking the band's fifth Top 40 hit and third most successful single to date. The accompanying music video was shot in Los Angeles, CA during August 2010 and was directed byThe General Assembly. Following the rumoured release of "Techno Fan" as the second single from the album, the track "Jump into the Fog" was confirmed for a release on 24 January 2011.[4] "Anti-D" was the next single, with the album following two weeks later. The album, entitledThis Modern Glitch, was released in April 2011 as a CD, digital download and also on 7" and 12"vinyl.[5] The Wombats also played at the 2011 Southside and Hurricane music festivals in Germany.
The Wombats' song "Techno Fan" was previously used in European airlineeasyJet's television and Facebook campaigns.
On 11 September 2013, a mysterious hashtag message appeared on the band's Facebook page which read "#yourbodyisaweapon". A second message on 16 September stated: "Seismic activity is going on! Excited to announce that our new track 'Your Body Is a Weapon' will be out on October 2nd." The single premiered onBBC Radio 1 on 1 October asZane Lowe's Hottest Record and was officially released the next day. Lead singer Murphy claimed that their next album would be released at some point in 2014, however this did not come to pass.[6]
On 17 December 2014, the Wombats announced that their new album,Glitterbug, would be released in April 2015 as well as revealing the official album cover. The album's second single titled 'Greek Tragedy' was premiered asZane Lowe's Hottest Record onBBC Radio 1. A third track 'Emoticons' was published 16 February, with the third single fromGlitterbug 'Give Me A Try' being released in March. To celebrate the album's release theGlitterbug B Sides EP was released on the same day. The album achieved similar chart success to its predecessorThis Modern Glitch, charting at number 5 in the UK and 2 in Australia.Glitterbug also became The Wombats' first album to chart in the US, reaching 81 on theBillboard 200.
To support the album the band toured extensively across the world. They also performed"Greek Tragedy" onLate Night with Seth Meyers.
In January 2021 it was reported that a remix of Greek Tragedy had gone viral on the social media platformTikTok, where it had been used as the soundtrack for over 430,000 videos.[7]
After being revealed as headliners of Australian festivalGroovin' the Moo for 2017, Murphy announced that work was underway for a fourth Wombats album, with a release scheduled for the end of that Summer. However, the album was not released before this deadline.[8] Instead, the band announced they would tour to celebrate the decade anniversary of their debut album.[9]
On 4 September 2017, a teaser trailer was published on the band's Facebook, accompanied by an emoji of a knife and a lemon. On 30 October 2017, it was revealed via the group's Instagram that the fourth studio album would be titledBeautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. The first single off the album was "Lemon to a Knife Fight", released on 7 November 2017. The album was released on 9 February 2018.[10]
Starting from 13 May 2021, the band posted a series of teasers on various social media, leading up to the announcement on 24 May 2021 of the single "Method to the Madness", which was eventually released on 26 May 2021.[11] In the months following, the singles "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You", "Ready for the High" and "Everything I Love Is Going to Die" were released[12] as further teasers for their firth studio album titledFix Yourself, Not the World, which was published on 14 January 2022. The album enjoyed immediate success, reaching the top spot in theUK Albums Chart on the week of release and becoming the band's first UK No. 1 album.[13][14][15]
The Wombats released the EPIs This What It Feels Like to Feel Like This? on 18 November 2022 via AWAL.[16] The Wombats released their latest single on this EP on October 7, 2022, titled, "I Think My Mind Has Made Its Mind Up."[17]
On September 27, 2024, The Wombats teased a new single, "Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come," followed by further singles "Blood on the Hospital Floor," "My Head Is Not My Friend," and "Can't Say No," over the following months.[18] These singles were released as a lead-in to their sixth studio album,Oh! The Ocean, which was released 14 February 2025.[19]
Studio albums
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | NME Awards[21] | Best New Band | The Wombats | Nominated |
| Best Dancefloor Filler | "Let's Dance to Joy Division" | Won | ||
| Best Track | "Let's Dance to Joy Division" | Nominated | ||
| XFM New Music Awards | Best Album | A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation | Nominated | |
| 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards[22] | Best UK and Ireland New Act | The Wombats | Nominated | |
| 2022 | APRA Music Awards of 2022[23] | Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work | "Nothing to Love About Love" (withPeking Duk) | Nominated |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
