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With the cover for their debut album, Our Fertile Forever, featuring a woman wearing nothing but her breastfeeding (and also naked) child for clothing, it pretty much goes without saying that Glasgow-based pop rockers WOMPS know how to grab your attention. However, it takes much more than a quick flash to stay afloat in the music business, and as you listen through their record, you’ll realize that, thankfully, WOMPS know that, too.
Our Fertile Forever seems to have a little bit of something for everyone, churning out an eclectic mix of pop, rock, emo, punk, and even a little ‘80s flair to help keep your head bouncing and your mind busy. Starting out on the emo side of things, “Plasticine” serves to ease the album into place, keeping things nice and mellow while lead singer Ewan Grant weaves a melancholy web, both vocally and lyrically, throughout the track. Follow up “Manners” continues this trend, as do down the line drop ins “Cancer of the Bone” and “How Are You,” which cover topics from the absence of love to being alone while also managing to hit spot-on with a poppy hook each time.
What really puts this effort over the top, though, are the harder numbers. Songs such as “Live a Little,” “Ritalin,” “Dreams on Demand,” “Cavity,” and even “Another Cell” incorporate the fast-paced head-on drumming, reckless vocals, catchy melodies, hard rock bridges, and simplistic chord strums that were staples of the punk and ska resurrection of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. The only downside is that a good chunk of the lyrics seem to get lost in the commotion, which wouldn’t matter in the mostly shallow “good times” talk of the punk era. But, after hearing some of the more poetic, deep, and understandable lines of its earlier emo counterparts, it’s a bit disappointing not to be able to go back and dissect the words of these tracks after you’re done rooster bobbing in your kitchen.
Wrapping things up with some relaxing ‘80s angel synth and echo drumming in “Gift from God,” WOMPS put an odd yet fitting stamp on an album that keeps you guessing the whole way. Blending several genres into one is no easy task, but WOMPS make it seem almost effortless, creating a one of a kind ride that delivers on the promises of its cover.
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