We Are Scientists - Live Music Review in Bristol
Posted on: 2016-04-25
Our rating:
Indie-rock outfit We Are Scientists have lost none of their sparkle in more than a decade and a half of raucous inventiveness?
New York-based indie-rockers We Are Scientists kicked off their UK tour at Bristol's Bierkeller on Sunday 24 April 2016, showcasing their fifth studio album ‘Helter Seltzer’. Made up of singer/guitarist Keith Murray and Chris Cain on bass/vocals, the pair are also joined for their live shows by drummer Keith Carne.
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Murray and Cain deliver a fair bit more than just music at their shows; the awkward, often mind-numbing chat between songs that you often get from bands is replaced by an irreverent series of song links that are slick yet casual. Their roots were founded in a mutual love of stand-up comedy and the on-stage style harnesses some of these qualities to humorous - and really quite endearing - effect. It would be hard not to like these guys even if you wanted to try to do such a thing.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the set itself was built around tracks from the new album which, despite only having been released two days earlier, already seemed to have a sense of familiarity among fans.
Of the new material, ‘Classic Love’ and ‘In My Head’ were strong. Better still though was the first single from the album, ‘Buckle’, which was energetic, polished, and indicative of a band that has lost none of its youthful swagger over the past 16 years. Thankfully for those in the front row, the food fight in the song’s accompanying video wasn’t recreated for the live show.
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The temptation for any band is to overly focus on their new tracks but WAS called upon songs from right across their back catalogue to mix things up nicely. They included ‘Make It Easy’ and ‘Dumb Luck’ from the album ‘TV En Francais’, ‘Rules Don’t Stop’ and ‘Nice Guys’ from 2010’s ‘Barbara’, and the superb ‘After Hours’ from their second album ‘Brain Thrust Mastery’.
Some of the old favourites from the very early days were rightfully included too, including ‘It’s A Hit’, ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’, - and the one that always gets things jumping - ‘The Great Escape’.
They wrapped things up with a track from the new album, ‘Too Late’, which typically broke down into a loud frenzy of guitars to leave no-one in any doubt that there is a hell of a lot of energy left in the Scientists’ locker.
Rating: 4/5
Words and photos by Martin Allen for 365Bristol.com - The leading events and entertainment website in the city
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Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
