10

Animal magic!

As refreshing as an ice cold beer after a hard day at the office this debut single from Liverpool based trio The Wombats reaches the parts other bands can't. It's a lively, summery romp that rifles through the best bits of Blur, Ash and Supergrass' back catalogues, casually tossing them aside one by one in search of the perfect power pop chorus. They don't quite reach the peaks scaled by those bands on 'Lost In The Post' but they come fairly close here with this crafty number whose self deprecating lyrics about deteriorating relationships are seemingly at odds with the overall knockabout tone of the music.

Having dealt with the heavy lyrical matter on the nominal 'A' side The 'bats turn their attention to more fluffy matters on the flip side 'Patricia The Stripper' which recalls a less proggy Mansun or the criminally under-appreciated post-Britpoppers Ooberman, The band certainly wear their quirky English influences proudly on their lapels throughout (ok the excellently named bassist Tord Overland-Knudsen is a Viking but you get the gist).

As with most releases on the excellent Kids label you'll have to be quick to snare your copy of the limited run of five hundred 7" singles. I have a feeling they'll be flying out of your nearest independent store at a speedy pace.