I’m not quite sure whether this is a style of music that Punktastic would, or maybe should, cover but what the Hell, this is a great record. With We Are Scientists freshly added to the Give It A Name line-up alongside a stack of bands who certainly are PT-worthy, it gives the band the ideal opportunity to make a legion of new fans – and I think it’s a cast-iron guarantee they will do just that. With a choppy style that’s filled to the brim with hooks and meldoies, We Are Scientists released this record last year on the quiet, but a couple of catchy singles have since dominated the airwaves and propelled ‘With Love and Squalor’ into the charts. NME darlings they may be, but there’s a lot more to this band than your stereotypical hip-indie act.
‘With Love and Squalor’ is brimmed with memorable moments, from the initial dance-tastic ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’ through to recent singles ‘It’s A Hit’ and ‘The Great Escape’. I suppose there’s a geek chic here, represented well by the cover art, and although WAS are hardly a Weezer for the 21st century, their brand of nerd rock hits the spot on nearly every occasion. The sparky dynamics and choppy riffs are certainly a vogue style of music right now, but I’d go as far as saying these guys do this kind of thing better than nearly anyone else around right now. ‘The Scene Is Dead’ and ‘Cash Cow’ have huge singalong hooks, and it would be no surprise to me if these singalongs are repeated in large fields during festival season this summer.
There’s a Bloc Party-esque feel to the drum patterns, although maybe laced with even more pop sensibilities. The chances are you may even have heard of this band while you’re on the dancefloor at your nearest alternative club, you may just not know it yet. More indie-rock than anything else, as I’ve said this is possibly not usual PT reviewing material. But the simple truth is that this is really, really good and you’ll be a fool to miss out. If you’re heading to Give It A Name, write We Are Scientists off at your peril.
www.wearescientists.com
Virgin
Paul