We Are Scientists
With Love And Squalor

THE REVIEW

Debut for the New York trio - recently hailed by the British press as the "next big thing" in indie rock (but this now seems to be the norm for every new band that releases a debut album classified as indie, good or not) - who is touring with Wolf Parade at the end of 2005. The American We Are Scientists take the path followed by many bands that emerged in recent months, like Maxïmo Park, Wolf Parade, Kaiser Chiefs and especially the Killers. Essentially dance-rock tracks with a structure already written by a thousand other bands (especially the Killers and Bravery) but with a decidedly different impact.

The tracks are not long at all (12 episodes in just over half an hour), very rarely have a radio-friendly structure (a verse-chorus-verse base is found only in "Can’t Lose" and the single "The Great Escape") and everything is far from anonymous listening. Every single track strikes sharply and decisively at the listener, allowing a total of 4 minutes of respite simply because the remaining 33 have a very sustained, energetic rhythm with no particularly soft interludes (the only one being the fantastic Textbook). "Lousy Reputation" is one of the few tracks that with its markedly radio-friendly and catchy structure could easily feature on TV and hold its own. The opening track "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" has an adrenaline rush like perhaps only the Rakes and the Paddingtons have managed to convey this musical season, as does "Inaction" (pure and gritty rock'n'roll) and "Cash Cow" (close to that post-punk so dear to the English audience in recent years). The rest unfolds without infamy and with a bit of praise, but not excessively so. Although we are surrounded by good works, it is now difficult to cry masterpiece.

How far off are the days (to cite recent examples) of explosive debuts like Is This It, Definitely Maybe, The Runaway Found, Turn On The Bright Lights, Up The Bracket… An album with a decidedly good impact, well-crafted, with a non-complex structure and consequently at times catchy, even if already heard in many recent productions. But who said that catchiness and déjà-vu coincide with shame? Certainly not me.