I’ve taken a lot of flack in the past for liking We Are Scientists. I’m often derided by my close friends when I mention in conversation that I think With Love and Squalor is a great album. It’s an opinion I still stand by, but it’s increasingly the case that when I talk about it I have to add a whole lot of caveats and explanations – “just their first album”, “I only like their early stuff”, “I know, I know; the new stuff’s dreadful”, and so on and so forth. I’m a man who enjoys standing up for overlooked records that haven’t gotten all the respect they’re due, but I’ve reached the point with We Are Scientists where it’s just become far too much hassle to stand up for them.
I mean, they really haven’t done themselves any favours, have they? 2008’s Brain Thrust Mastery wasn’t actually a bad album as such, but it certainly wasn’t a good one either. After Hours was a nice single, Impatience had a great video, and Spoken For harkened back to some of the softer moments from their (major label) debut, but nothing on there came even close to setting the world alight. It was clear by this point that I liked the idea of We Are Scientists far more that I liked the actual music; they look really cool, the overall sound gives off an air of thoughtful, studied nonchalance and they give the impression that I’d really like them if we were to meet in the pub.
Now, with this year’s new album Barbara on the scene, I’ve given up entirely. If Brain Thrust Mastery sounded like off-cuts and B-sides from With Love and Squalor, Barbara is even more so. To my ears there has been absolutely no sonic development whatsoever since their debut. BTM added some acoustic guitars and synths to the mix, but the songwriting, both on BTM and now with Barbara, seemed to be coming from exactly the same place as their previous work. I’m all in favour of consistency, and if they’d made two new LPs at the standard of WLaS then they’d most likely be one of my favourite bands by now, but sadly it’s looking ever more likely that their first record was a flash in the pan, a one off never to be repeated.
I almost feel bad including mp3s with this post; it’s just so bland. It feels half-baked, underdeveloped; only half the tracks on this LP manage to survive past the three minute mark, and most only by a whisker, and rather than feeling like a focused, . But, (and this will probably be the last time I can be bother to stick my neck out and say this) go and listen to With Love and Squalor; it’s a paragon of indie-pop that’s absolutely stuffed with great songs.
We Are Scientists – Pittsburgh
We Are Scientists – Break It Up
15 October 2010 at 5:05 pm
Man, I couldn’t disagree with you more about the two songs you posted, Pittsburgh and Break It up. Great melodies, great production – in the case of the latter, great energy. I’m aware of the first record that you’re such a fan of. I liked it alright. I downloaded this new one on the strength of the songs you posted, and so far I gotta say it beats With Love And Squalor handily. My problem with that record was always that it sounds like a collection of singles – there’s no dynamic to the track list. I think that makes it a less satisfying listen as a whole. This new one definitely seems like an “album,” with slow parts, big parts, short songs, long songs. WLAS was a dozen songs that all had a disco beat and all shot for the moon. The new one, so far at least, is striking me as a much more satisfying album listen.
Is it possible you’re indulging in a little bit of nostalgic favoritism…? Did the first girl you fell in love with give you WLAS maybe?
15 October 2010 at 7:20 pm
Well those two tracks were picked because they were the best, but sadly still the best of a bad bunch. I almost agree about WLAS being a collection of singles, and the fact that they were shooting for the moon was one of the reasons I liked it so much. Back then they sounded like a band who thought they were going places – now it just seems like they’ve lost their ambition, or (to put it more kindly) that they’ve found a niche they like and are sticking to it.
Nostalgia is always a problem for me, if I’m honest (although there’s no romantic story behind my affection for WAS, alas). I’ve never thought WLAS was one of the best records ever, but I do love it nonetheless, and I suspect that my fondness has been re-enforced by constantly having to defend it (I’ll admit it’s actually been a while since I listened to the record all the way through…).
I’m glad it seems like some people do like this new effort. I really want WAS to be successful – they’ve got so much obvious potential and ability. I hope that Barbara will grow on me, but unfortunately I doubt it will. Despite what you say about it being a more satisfying listen than WLAS, it still sounds a little anaemic to my ears.
19 November 2010 at 3:40 pm
Hey Tom,
I come at WAS from a different angle to you, I recently discovered them (well, I knew of them through a couple of singles but nothing to pique my interest); a friend was insistent that I would fall in love with “Barbara” and I duly have…so much that I have invested in a pair of tix to see them this Sunday and I can’t wait. I hope you fall in love with them again, since the world needs to know about them and since you be raving about the early stuff, I will duly go and check that out too!
Loves,
Barney
19 November 2010 at 5:54 pm
Don’t listen to anything earlier than With Love and Squalor; there’s a few EPs and things out there which are interesting if you want to hear a band trying to find a sound, but they didn’t really solidify musically until their first full-length.
27 November 2010 at 8:32 am
oh man my point exactly i was really into them when WLAS came out but other follows up are just ehh ..We Are Scientists are sort of a band where you just remember the good times that once happend. [dont know what that meant haha]
30 December 2010 at 1:32 pm
[…] sink without trace, but Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Jim Moray, Band of Horses, Johnny Flynn and We Are Scientists should all have been capable of much better. This rather dismal showing from such highly […]
4 January 2011 at 11:05 am
[…] 7. Pittsburgh by We Are Scientists. Yet again We Are Scientists have managed to produce a really boring album that has one track on it that I just can’t stop listening to. Pittsburgh was smuggled in among the morass of mediocrity that made up their LP Barbara, and is an absolute gem of a track; a poignant reminder that WAS actually can write a pretty darned good song when they put their minds to it. Read my full review of their album here. […]