The Wombats, Tortoiseshell @The Enmore Theatre, Sydney(09/05/11)

Mon 16th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

UK trio The Wombats swapped cows and crops for a more conventional venue last Monday, taking time out from their Groovin the Moo exploits to treat Sydney city-slickers to an all-ages headline show at the Enmore. Their latest LP This Modern Glitch has been making waves across national youth radio and bursts with the kind of joyful energy that implores you to throw your hands up, scream like an idiot and (try) to dance. Expectations were high tonight; the show was sold out and it was clear that the masses of moshing teens weren’t going to let the fact that it was a Monday temper their enthusiasm.

First up were Sydney five-piece Tortoiseshell. They describe themselves as a disco house, jungle and Korean pop emulsion. The lazy, simmering beat and buoyant vocals of their debut single This Girl are warm and inherently calming. Their show was really quite excellent and the already sizeable crowd was clearly appreciative. They are absolutely worth checking out.

As the lads left the stage and 9.15pm ticked closer the tension in the air became increasingly palpable. By now the venue was packed-out and the gathered masses were demanding their fix. Before long the headliners took to the stage and the frantic synth backbeat of Our Perfect Disease pierced the air to rapturous applause. There was no shortage of underage girls shrieking girls perched on shoulders in the front mosh while things were considerably more subdued amongst the older (but equally appreciative) punters positioned a little further back.

The band followed up with a banging rendition of Kill the Director before traversing the slower but anthemic Party in a Forest. Following this they dove into the more poppy Jump into the Fog. There was minimal inter-track banter with front man Matthew Murphy darting offstage for minutes at a time between songs for the first-half of the set.

The second half of the show saw the Wombats rip out a few more tried and tested tracks from their debut LP including Patricia the Stripper and Moving to New York. These went down a treat but were overshadowed by the frenzy that went down as the band detonated Tokyo over the audience. Finishing up with the evocative, heartfelt Anti-D (my highlight) the boys took a well-deserved break before returning to perform the obligatory Let’s Dance to Joy Division.

The Wombats are still as charming as ever and have clearly moved towards a sound that is less angular and more poppy with their new material. This shift may well have chin stroking hipsters scowling but they sure as hell will still be dancing.