Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 22/12/08
Label: 14th Floor

It's a sad truth that Christmas brings out the worst in music. It's as if the mere presence of the word is an excuse for all taste and decorum to be left at the recording studio door, and for everything to be more zany and fun than usual. Bah, humbug. The festive season has the unique ability to make novelty acts of all and The Wombats are no exception. It wasn't a giant leap, but one "Is This Christmas?" makes with very little effort.

As if the irrepressible Liverpool trio weren't excitable enough, now they've turned their jaunty disposition to Yule they're unbearably hyperactive. There's a hint in lines like "What happened to our festive cheer?" and "Turn 'Back To The Future' off I've seen it before", that the intention is to knock the cynicism out of the season and re-instil us with the true Yule spirit. However, coming on like a Coca-Cola sponsored indie rock version of festivities, the overly enthusiastic shouts of "Everybody loves Christmas, everybody loves Christmas," could be enough to put you off them and it for life.

    by Dan Gennoe