This band makes lemonade out of lemons.
A British rock trio named after an Australian marsupial has spent the last decade building a following in the American scene — and now its efforts are bearing fruit! The Wombats, who just launched the single “Lemon to a Knife Fight,” from its upcoming fourth album “Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life,” will headline the giant rock venue Brooklyn Steel in Williamsburg on Jan. 10, and this summer the band will tour with both Weezer and the Pixies.
The Liverpool group has previously scored in the United Kingdom and Europe, and though success in the U.S. took longer to materialize, the band’s guitarist, lead vocalist and lyricist Matthew “Murph” Murphy says that the group now “plays similar size venues on both sides of the pond.”
Murph suspects that breaking through in America took a bit longer because his lyrics “are not easily digestible.” But he believes that good things come to those who are patient.
“There’s something more rewarding about that than having it all come to you at once,” said Murph.
The Wombats’s latest album showcases a modern sound that seems to draw upon both the jagged vibe of punk and the dance-oriented 1990s sounds of nearby Manchester. But Murph dismisses comparisons to the Brit-pop scene.
“I do love that era of guitar music,” he said, “but I just try to write stuff that resonates with me personally.”
After releasing three albums on Warner imprint 14th Floor Records, the Wombats moved to Kobalt Music Group for the latest record.
“We weren’t exactly a priority artist at Warner,” Murph said. But he is not bitter — he understands the market forces that led to the change.
“You can squeeze a lot more Michelin stars out of Ed Sheeran than you can the Wombats,” he said.
The lyrics of tunes like “Lemon to a Knife Fight” might be inscrutable to American audiences, but the band’s groove — especially onstage, where Murph believes the band is at its best — is undeniable.
The Wombats with Blaenavon and Courtship at Brooklyn Steel (319 Frost St. at Debevoise Avenue in Williamsburg, www.bower
