Humorous pop-punk bands are a mainstay of many large towns, so it takes something more for one to break into the mainstream. Enter the Wombats, a three-man cross between Art Brut's Wire-like fractured art-punk and Half Man Half Biscuit's wicked Liverpudlian humor. Not only are the Wombats fellow Scousers, they have a tangential Beatles connection: singer and guitarist Matthew "Murph" Murphy and drummer Dan Haggis formed the Wombats in 2003 when they were students at the Paul McCartney-founded Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. After drafting in bassist Tord Overland Knudsen (unsurprisingly, not a native of Liverpool, but a Norwegian student also attending the LIPA), the members of the new trio chose their name at random on the day of their first gig. Though early shows were as much alcohol-fueled Dada-esque performance art as anything else (the three members dressed in jester's outfits and sang songs with titles like "Ode to Charles the Goat"), the trio quickly progressed into a spiky blend of danceable indie rock, Murph's sardonic lyrics, and high-energy pop hooks.