Monday 14/05/07 The Wombats, goFASTER>> @ King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow

Liverpool remains a factory for bands. It’s as if there’s a steady production line, rolling out band after band, each one blessed with a single mission: To produce perky guitar pop that slays any listeners. Both the Wombats and goFASTER>> at least put a different spin on the jangly tunes that many of their indie brethren roll out. goFASTER>> specialise in whirlwind, fairground rock, several stomping, rapid numbers hurtling by, with only the odd bit of keyboards breaking in to shake things up. They’re clearly a upbeat pop band, but a breakneck, helter-skelter one and a group that appear to have been inspired by the sounds you hear at the carnival.

For all their exuberance and some decent music, goFASTER>> aren’t the finished article and too many songs zip by without really making a mark, like a boxer throwing punch after punch wildly without ever connecting with one. At least the band are enjoying themselves, with their drummer flailing about like an aggressive monkey,  though one with a huge grin on his face. Decent stuff, but not enough to fling yourself on board their bandwagon yet.

The Wombats have a different weapon in their armoury: Striking three-part harmonies that suggest they’ve transplanted the Beach Boys and given them a punk pop backing. The trio rattle through their songs in a tight 50 minute set that show why they’ve sold out the Academy 2 in Liverpool while still unsigned, and why they’ve been so hotly tipped.

Vocalist Matthew Murphy has a slightly downtrodden, wistful vocal that gives life to his droll, humorous lyrics and also captures the band’s more sadder material as well. Yet if the vocals are downtrodden, the music is anything but. A fizzing, bubbling concoction of jerky, speedy guitar pop of the highest order, topped off by some whacking great pop hooks. ‘Little Miss Pipedream’ is a lovely, melancholy lament and ’School Uniforms’ is a sugar rush of a tune, absolutely soaring and bouncing higher than a rabbit with access to a large trampoline.