Two way Monologues

We Are Scientists: With Love And Squalor (Brandon "The Destroyer")

We Are Scientists - With Love And Squalor
Brought to you by: Brandon "the Destroyer"

We Are Scientists is a strange name for a band of musicians. These guys remind me of several bands but that is because they are almost in the realm of post punk. It does remind me a fair bit of The Futureheads, because they have some eighties dance backgrounds that are thrown into the track and thats something that they do. The guitar is melodic rock for the most part, and the drums contain a heavy bit from the high hat. The voice of Keith Murray isn't terrible but its not anything particular, his voice almost reminds me of that Sondre Lerche guy. Not that he ever carries a high pitch, but when they are both singing regularly then the comparison is more warranted. This album probably is something that would be more enjoyed by Dan or Terri in the end, but that is mostly because as far as post punk from Britain goes these days I'm only really into the bands that are going to give me a killer rock show. We Are Scientists don't really contain as much energy as a band like Futureheads who are easily a better band to me if not for the pacing in their songs alone. We Are Scientists aren't untalented, that would be unfair of me to say but they are a band that just doesn't grab my attention. When you sit in a market that is laden with bands that are similar in style and sound then you really have to stand out, even if that means selling out just a bit more than the man or woman next to you. It's a sad truth, but if this album had more songs like the fourth one, "Callbacks" then I would probably really like it. That song is badass, a lot of the other songs do not fall victim to the same fate, which in this case is a fate that you would actually like to have happen to you. We Are Scientists do try to bring the saga and I'm sure for some people this would be the musical saga would be just right, unfortunately for We Are Scientists, "the Destroyer" has a bit of a different idea of what the word saga means.

"Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt" is a nice way to start off any album. So for starters ,We Are Scientists get something right because this track isn't too bad at all. On the chorus of the song Murray starts to sing about how his body is nobody's but his, which is hilarious because this reminds me of my grade nine gym class. I don't know if you guys got to see the 'Am I Normal?' video but it was friggin' hilarious, as I recall most of the class remained talking about this comedy film months after its initial viewing. I'm off topic though, "Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt" is one of the better songs that is on the CD, I think a lot of it is to do with this chorus and the nostalgia in my life that it reminds me of. The verse's actually have large gaps in them that are filled with drums and guitar, the guitar is totally catchy, but it’s hard to establish a presence with the drums if you aren't really using the whole kit. From what I can tell they are using the bass drum, cymbal and high hat, that’s about it, I mean sure they probably use the other stuff but its nowhere to be heard and that is a bit infuriating due to how much I like drums these days. This album I find to carry a bit or a groove to it which is probably why I don't hate the album when I compare it to most or the other post punk that I am listening to from Britain.

I mentioned before that the fourth track "Callbacks" was a song that We Are Scientists could learn their own lesson from. Well that statement is still very much true, because I know that this is my favourite song that is on the CD and a huge reason for that is the guitar and the life that is breathes life into this track. My only beef with the song is its two minutes long, which is a funny thing for me to complain about, but since most of the songs on the disc are over three minutes I feel that I was screwed over with my favourite track on the CD. This song is loosely based around a request that has been made by Keith Murray and he is wishing that someone would call him back because it was out of context (his original request). The lyrics are certainly clever so I can't be upset about the intelligence level of the band members, I just wish that there were more lyrics so that they song could be longer and I'd have more of my favourite song to listen to.

The term "Cash Cow" is quite hilarious, this is the name of the fifth song on 'With Love And Squalor'. The song starts with a pretty catchy guitar riff, its not the fastest guitar riff but it is not without charm. One thing that I would really like to see them do is incorporate this kind of guitar riff into more of their songs because I do like the way that it sounds and it seems to suit their style more than something more hardcore or thrashy. The vocals on this one by Murray are acceptable, they are actually a lot more like spoken word that is darker than most of the other songs he has done. I don't know why they decided to go off in this direction but the music also adds to that darker feel which actually is surprisingly well done, I thought that the darker this band got the worse it would sound. Most of their songs try to sound more upbeat so as a result I guess I typecast the band, but they pull this song. Of all the songs on the CD this is one of the ones that I would actually prefer to hear again.

Since there are only eleven songs on the CD its only about a thirty four minute disc. The seventh song is called "The Great Escape", this song is probably the silver medalist on the disc. Most of the reason for that is the beginning of the track, it reminds me of a song that I have heard before in a beer commercial, sadly I can't remember who the hell the artist is so really this is another moment brought to you entirely by marijuana. Anyways, the point of my ramblings is it sounds familiar It’s better than that song I'm thinking of too, the guitar riff is sicke, if the vocals were better this could take the gold. The vocals are decent, just I think Murray could have a better chorus. Actually I don't think the chorus is that good and it holds the song back. The guitar riff for the verse is ridiculously catchy and then the chorus riff is much more plain so the song is a bit like night and day. Its hard to explain really so I just suggest you listen to it, its not a bad song, just it changes quite a bit from verse to chorus and it might throw you off.

The ninth song is "Lousy Reputation", this is one of those songs that is formatted very similar to that of the Futureheads. I like this song a lot, the vocals are incredible and play a large part in my reason for even paying attention to the song. The music isn't that bad, but it reminds me a lot of several Futureheads songs so I won't go into to much detail other than if you like the Futureheads then you will most likely enjoy this song. Overall though We Are Scientists don't continue this sound enough to be as consistent or as good as the Futureheads, which is disappointing but its still a band that has a few tracks worth hearing. I don't think that this song was a saga that was for "the Destroyer" though as I mentioned previously, when it comes to post punk these days I like mine to sound like Maximo Park, who in my opinion are still the best thing to happen to that whole genre. The vocals for "Lousy Reputation are the shining star of the song, but if I had to pick something else worth noting it would be the guitar riff that they use for the chorus, its catchy enough that I could see myself humming it in the shower.

Tracks to Steal: "Callbacks", "The Great Escape", "Lousy Reputation"

Who is the right person for an album of this style?
Do I think that Dan would have liked the album a bit better than me?

Judgment Passed: 6.5 (Like I said, there’s some good stuff about the album and some songs on the album that I will definitely keep on the hard drive after I'm done with it. I just don't find them good enough that I would consider listening to them with frequency, so save the few exceptions I mentioned above you I just don't think its a saga for me.)

posted by Daysthatareover @ 10:22 PM