Since migrating to Brooklyn five years ago from the sunny shores of Southern California, dance-rock trio We Are Scientists have put out a collection of EPs and gained the attention of Virgin Records with their up-tempo songs and cheeky lyrics.
Now they have put out their full-length debut With Love and Squalor, and the hype machine is going full-steam ahead.
An initial listening of this album will conjure comparisons to bands like Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers. Catchy guitars, prominent bass lines and dance club drum beats abound, as well as some respectable hooks and tempo changes.
It’s obvious from listening to With Love and Squalor that We Are Scientists – Kieth Murray on guitars and vocals, Chris Caan on bass and backing vocals and Michael Tapper on drums and backing vocals – are fairly intelligent guys. This album is 35 minutes worth of tightly crafted melodies, both vocal and instrumental.
Beneath all the impressive music, however, are some juvenile and often trite lyrics. Murray has an above-average croon, but his youth shows in his subject matter.
An excerpt from lead single “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt”: “My body is your body, I won’t tell anybody, if you want to use my body go for it.”
Catchy beat or not, this is bad songwriting. Most of these 12 songs are about chicks and boozing, and there’s even an entire song about people not returning phone calls. Not that there haven’t been plenty of good songs on these very subjects, it’s just that Murray often comes across as the type of friend you had in high school that would run up to you and yell “Dude, I’m so wasted!” in your ear at a party.
But that does not detract from the album’s finer qualities, namely the decent music. Standout tracks include the slowed down “Can’t Lose” and “It’s a Hit,” where all of We Are Scientists’ finer qualities are in full force.
All in all, With Love and Squalor is a decent album. It’s just that with so many other bands putting out similar music, only doing it better, We Are Scientists may get swallowed by the tide.
