Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: According to the band themselves, the Wombats' new full-length - the long-serving trio's sixth studio set in total - is their most "sophisticated and sonically adventurous yet", exploring lyrical themes of "socially awkwardness, internal strife and everyday LA life". It's certainly a musical departure, with the Liverpool-born band and producer John Congleton (best known for his work with St Vincent and Death Cab For Cutie) largely eschewing the synths and indie-dance influences of old in favour of a sound rooted in British "beat music" of the late 1960s, jangly 1980s indie-rock, and the Britpop era. It's a notable change in direction, but it works really well - as the bold, beautiful and undeniably catchy songs 'Can't Say No', 'Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come' (a future anthem for socially anxious misfits everywhere in the same mould as Pulp's 'Mis-shapes') and the surprisingly funky 'Blood On The Hospital Floor'.

Review: Matthew Murphy, Tord Overland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis deliver their sixth studio album. The latest in a surprisingly prolific list of records - starting with 2007's much hyped debut, A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation. Over the years since, the Liverpool trio have consistently delivered the goods to sustain a loyal following, while also swerving the pitfalls of 'blowing up' only to do whatever the opposite of that is once the hysteria subsides. Blow down? Whatever the term, the truth of it is that Oh! The Ocean is The Wombats through and through - an makes no secret of that fact. But it's no simple rerun. Instead, the three-piece have emphasised their sense of humour, social commentary and escapism while simultaneously calling on the kind of riffs that evoke nostalgia for the heyday of British indie rock & roll, while embracing the anything goes doctrine that seems to be humanity's modus in 2025.