In a way, We Are Scientists are the remnant of a bygone era, the hayday of indie rock, when bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs dominated the dance floor of every club. We Are Scientists’ Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt was part of that scene and will always remind me of good times I had at the disco. Having said that, I do feel old.
With a bigger moustaches and grayer hair, We Are Scientists have aged well compared to some of their contemporaries and, seemingly out of nowhere, return with their fifth record Helter Seltzer.
… we decided that our genre is ‘Helter Seltzer.’
The album’s title, an amalgam of The Beatles’ classic Helter Skelter and pain reliever Alka-Seltzer, shows that lead singer Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain still consider themselves both, musicians and comedians.
Video: We Are Scientists – Buckle
The album kicks off with a punch. Buckle, which was also released as a single, is one of the strongest tracks on Helter Seltzer and is accompanied by a video in which Murray gets all kind of food dumped all over his face. We Are Scientists stay true to their sound (and nonsense) and keep doing what they’re good at. Tracks such as Buckle, In My Head or Headlights show that there is a lot of Helter Skelter in the music of WAS.
Too Late and We Need A Word show that the duo is equally capable of writing powerful and earnest pop ballads. The former is actually an ode to their friendship (they’ve known each other for almost 20 years) rather than a love song, Keith explains in the press release.
Video: We Are Scientists – Too Late
With their fifth album We Are Scientists stick to a well established formula and put some fun back into rock music. It’s not great, but it sure is fun.
Lyrics
Lasting Appeal
Composition
Production
Solid
Helter Seltzer is out on April 22nd via 100% Recordings.
