Pitchfork

First, we hang the DJ. Then we start on Hollywood. A few current indie-pop songwriters-- Sweden's winsome Hello Saferide or the UK's Lily Allen-touted Kate Nash come to mind-- have written songs that are pretty much like unsucky romantic comedies. Liverpool three-piece the Wombats take aim at the people who make sucky romantic comedies in the first place on "Kill the Director", from the group's forthcoming self-titled EP.

We mentioned the infectious, punk-spiked indie-pop of the Wombats' 2006 single "Moving to New York" in a previous Forkcast post about Manchester-based kindred spirits the Answering Machine. Wombats singer Matthew Murphy-- feeling like he's on EastEnders, shouting as if Los Campesinos! came out with a full-length already-- confesses to "the angst of a teenage band" but goes ahead and complains anyway about "a gender I'll never understand." The band shout his best lines back, trading guitar punches that might explain why he feels seasick, over a fast-charging beat. "This is no Bridget Jones/ Kill the director," they conclude, less cinematic critique than a statement of self-loathing. Now there's an idea for a summer blockbuster.