As the lead singer of Britain's
the Wombats
,
Matthew Murphy
always seems to have one foot on the podium to pop success and the other on a banana peel. It's a wryly amusing balancing act he manages to pull off yet again on the band's fifth studio album, 2022's
Fix Yourself, Not the World
. The record arrives three years after the equally potent
Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life
and also follows
Murphy
's 2020 solo project,
Wherever I Go, I Want to Leave
. As with those albums,
is another deep dive into
's psyche, where literate lyrics rife with self-loathing and allusions to substance abuse are married to the group's highly kinetic post-punk grooves and '90s-style Brit-pop hooks. It's an appealing combination, bringing to mind the self-aware pop irony of classic bands like
the Kinks
Blur
, and
Pulp
. There's also a bit of a louche decay to
that evokes the work of actor
Steve Coogan
and his performances in films like 24 Hour Party People and The Trip where he plays characters whose hedonistic, self-destructive tendencies belie their broad intellect and desire for an intense emotional connection in life. This a very poignant dichotomy and one that elevates anthems here such as "Flip Me Upside Down," "Everything I Love Is Going to Die," and "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You." Often, as on the latter track, it's purposefully unclear if
is directing his thoughts to a lover or himself. He sings, "You know I'll do/Whatever you want me to/Throw a banquet in a mosh pit/I'll get out of bed/Stop listening to
Radiohead
/Take you out of this/Your reluctant optimist." That ironic dissonance between self-love and self-loathing is what makes
such a thrilling and thoughtful pop experience. ~ Matt Collar