The Wombats

The Wombats are a UK indie rock band from Liverpool, England, active since 2003. The group is made up of Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland-Knudsen and Dan Haggis. Murphy sings and plays guitar and keyboards, Øverland-Knudsen plays bass and sings, and Haggis plays drums and sings. Murphy and Haggis are from Liverpool, and Øverland-Knudsen is Norwegian.

Formation and early years

The three members meet while studying at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. The band begins in Liverpool in 2003 and soon starts building a live following. Early in their career, they travel and perform outside the UK, including gigs in China arranged through the school. Their early touring also includes time spent travelling around in a Vauxhall Agila.

Recordings and chart success

The Wombats release their debut single, “Lost in the Post” / “Party in a Forest (Where’s Laura),” in 2006. In Japan they issue an album called Girls, Boys and Marsupials. Their debut UK album, The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, follows in 2007 and reaches number 11 in the UK albums chart. The album is preceded and supported by singles including “Moving to New York,” “Backfire at the Disco,” “Kill the Director” and “Let’s Dance to Joy Division.” “Kill the Director” reaches number 35 in the UK singles chart, while “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” reaches number 15.

The band’s second album, This Modern Glitch, is released in 2011 and reaches number 3 in the UK, later receiving gold certification in the UK and Australia. Singles from this period include “Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves),” “Jump into the Fog,” “Anti-D,” “Techno Fan,” “Our Perfect Disease” and “1966.”

Later albums include Glitterbug in 2015, which reaches number 5 in the UK and number 91 on the Billboard 200, and Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life in 2018, which reaches number 3 in the UK and number 190 on the Billboard 200. The compilation B-Z Sides (2003-2017) appears in 2019. Fix Yourself, Not the World is released in 2022 and reaches number 1 in the UK.

Recent work and releases

The band also issues the EP Is This What It Feels to Feel Like This? in 2022. Other later singles listed include “Your Body Is a Weapon,” “Greek Tragedy,” “Emoticons,” “Give Me a Try,” “Lemon to a Knife Fight,” “Turn,” “Cheetah Tongue,” “Black Flamingo,” “Bee-Sting,” “Oceans,” “Nothing to Love About Love,” “Method to the Madness,” “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You,” “Everything I Love Is Going to Die,” “Running Up That Hill” and “Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come.”

Style and activity

The Wombats are described as an indie pop and indie rock group from the UK. They remain active and continue as a three-piece line-up centred on Murphy, Øverland-Knudsen and Haggis.