The tunes are crunchy and melody-laden to nearly sugar-coma inducing levels, and it's what we want from bands like Weezer, the Strokes, and the Wombats as well.
Produced by Mark Crew (Bastille, Rationale) and Catherine Marks (the Killers, Wolf Alice), the album features much of what has endeared the Liverpool trio to fans; especially vocalist/guitarist Matthew Murphy's literate, tongue-in-cheek self-awareness, which remains firmly intact.
Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life is the sound of a band maturing and evolving, having come a long way from their first meeting in Liverpool. Now that they're 15 years and four albums in they know what works, and still have an ear for a catchy melody.
____ I do not know what is better - to remain yourself, excluding changes, and write all the same hits, or in search of yourself and a new
____ I do not know what is better - to remain yourself, excluding changes, and write all the same hits, or in search of yourself and a new sound, lose what you can do best - to please your listener with a quality and stable product and collect stadiums singing each song together with you. I think that The Wombats are on the right track and at least on their own.…Expand
Let’s get what’s obvious about this album out of the way first; Matthew Murphy’s trademark whip-smart(Conor's Reviews & Stuff - Facebook)
Let’s get what’s obvious about this album out of the way first; Matthew Murphy’s trademark whip-smart lyrical paw prints are all over this thing. He’s one of those songwriters who you wouldn’t mind listening to even if he couldn’t sing (which he really, really can). He is an adept and remarkably relatable lyricist for a new generation. Also present is The Wombats’ usual knack for putting fresh spins on well-worn pop-rock aphorisms, most noticeably on ‘Turn’, which trots out a chord progression which you’ve likely heard in five hundred other songs, but still manages to surprise you with the uniqueness and creativity of its arrangement and production.
Besides Murphy’s par-for-the-course brilliance, a notable star on the album is bass player Tord Knudsen. His bass line on ‘I Only Wear Black’, while perhaps familiar to even casual dance and art-rock listeners, elevates the song from standard back half album track fare to one of the record’s manifold highlights.
Overall, what really sets this offering apart from the previous three in The Wombats’ catalogue is the unapologetically immense production. This record boasts a sonic depth from start to finish that we have only caught glimpses of in the band’s previous work, such as on This Modern Glitch’s ‘Girls/Fast Cars’ and Glitterbug’s ‘Pink Lemonade’.…Expand
Album non bello quanto il precedente ma comunque ricco di spunti interessanti. Il loro stile è inconfondibile e il talento non si discuteAlbum non bello quanto il precedente ma comunque ricco di spunti interessanti. Il loro stile è inconfondibile e il talento non si discute minimamente!…Expand
BPWRYL is a fairly simple, unoriginal Alt-pop album that takes very few creative risks and choices. It fits perfectly in it's sub-genreBPWRYL is a fairly simple, unoriginal Alt-pop album that takes very few creative risks and choices. It fits perfectly in it's sub-genre (electronic Alt-pop), content with not reinventing the wheel. The lack of originality isn't a huge problem on this album, as it actually sounds pretty good. The music is catchy and really fun and enjoyable on the songs "Tongue," "Lemon," "Turn," "White," "Head," and "Ice Cream." The vocals on this album are tons of fun and give it some personality, especially on the first song and "Head."
Unfortunately, there is a solid number of unimpressive, not-very-fun songs on this album. "Flamingo" doesn't have great music; it just doesn't sound that good. "Wear Black" sounds a bit annoying, with meh music for the most part. The last two songs fall a little flat due to less-good music that fails to entertain me.
Lyrically, BPWRYL doesn't have much depth, but does have several fun moments and lines that entertain.
BPWRYL isn't extremely creative, but it has a solid number of fun, enjoyable songs and pretty great vocals.
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