THE WOMBATS - BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE REVIEW
by David Curry
Feb 22, 2018
Liverpool trio The Wombats are known for three big songs, Let’s Dance to Joy Division, Moving to New York and Kill the Director, so they fit in with plenty of noughties bands struggling to attain the same popularity and punch.
In their fourth studio album, Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, the band continues on their merry way with the same indie rock vibe they’ve been plugging for a decade at concerts.
The Wombats attempted to move to a synth-pop vibe on the previous album, Glitterbug, but Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life is a return to a sound similar to the band’s first album, A Guide to Love, Loss & Depression.
It’s a little slower and less punchy than the first album, but that allows Matthew Murphy (vocalist and guitarist), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bassist) and Dan Haggis (drummer) more room to work on the music, which is more fine-tuned and melodic than on previous albums.
While melodically this album surpasses the band's previous work, not much is happening on the vocal end. Murphy’s voice
sounds the same as it did when the band first formed, but the songwriting lacks the punch and desperation that made The Wombats so listenable in the first place.
Lead singles Turn and Lemon to a Knife Fight are both pleasant, totally passable radio pop tunes. Deeper cuts in the album, like White Eyes and Dip You in Honey, are a better listen for fans of the band.
Overall, this is a standard indie rock-pop album with not much to say. It is better than Glitterbug, but less ambitious and doesn't have the rawness of the first two albums.
For fans of The Wombats, this will be an easy listen, but the album does nothing to draw new people in.