The Wombats are three indie-pop lads who met at Liverpool’s Institute For Performing Arts. Sunny, hyper hits like ‘Backfire at the Disco’ and ‘Moving to New York’ - full of three part harmonies, frantic tambourines and bouncy guitar riffs - won support from DJs Zane Lowe and Colin Murray. Their tales of botched dates, strippers and caravans have earned them fans in Canada, Europe and China where they recently played to crowds of 20000.

Lead singer Matthew Murphy describes their sound.
It’s upbeat pop with a slightly dark edge. The lyrics talk about heartbreak and messing things up with girls - I write from a mix of real life and my imagination. We try and add humour and not take it too seriously. We love strong melodies from 60s bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, so you could say we’re updating that with an indie edge.

Why The Wombats?
Dan (drums, vocals) and I call each other ‘stupid wombats’ and it stuck. We have a cuddly toy wombat, Cherub, that we bring onstage. But he was kidnapped by a fan when we played Koko in London. Now they post photos on MySpace of Cherub in front of the Eiffel Tower and stuff. We need him for our UK tour, so we’ve asked for him to be Fed-Exed over.

What goes on at a Wombats live gig?
Random storytelling and hopefully the crowd singing along at the top of their voices. Maybe moshing, crowd surfing. People need to bring their dancing shoes. We’ve got slower songs too - they could be good for listening to in a bubble bath. We try to cater for all occasions.

(Claire Sawers)

King Tuts, Glasgow, Mon 14 May; Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Tue 15 May. New single Kill the Director is released on 25 Jun on 14th Floor.