We Are Scientists Stick With A Safe Formula

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 21, 2010 6:20PM

We Are Scientists are an American band that's bigger in Britain than they are here. They launched their careers around the same time that the Brooklyn dance scene was exploding, and their debut With Love And Squalor took full advantage of that movement with their own take on the genre. That album sped along, delivering a kinetic blur that carried the listener along in its wake. Their follow-up, Brain Thrust Mastery, broadened the band's scope. Its songs were far more varied in color and texture. To our ears the results were less fun but a far richer and more rewarding experience. It was the sort of album that broke indie bands into the mainstream, bridging the gap between hard touring and cushy festival slots.

That was two years ago and We Are Scientist's big break out never really happened here. However the English audience overseas really took to them. So much so that while the band is touring small and mid-size clubs in the U.S to support the release of their latest album Barbara, they have slots lined up at both the Leeds and Reading festivals later this year. We've given Barbara a few listens to see if this is perhaps the album to break the band, finally, but are afraid we must report is falls short. It's a safer affair than its predecessor, abandoning the more daring moments of their past for something that is more solid alt-rock in the vein that puts bands on the cover of Q and Mojo. There's absolutely nothing with the songs themselves, but when their taken in the context of a band that's been constantly evolving their sound it seems to be a minor step backwards.

There are a number of possible explanations for this. One of the founding members left the group so perhaps Barbara is an exercise in discovering the voice of the new core duo. Maybe the group's European success prompted them to think in terms of how the album might further appeal to that growing audience. Or maybe We Are Scientists just created the album they heard in their head and it just didn't align with our expectations.

While the new album hasn't blown us away there is one constant you can count on from We Are Scientists and that is their ability to put on an explosive live show. The band stops by Bottom Lounge tonight for the Chicago stop of their current tour and we wonder if the newer album material that strikes us as being slightly flat might jump to life on-stage. Maybe we'll stop by and find out.

We Are Scientists play tonight, July 21, at Bottome Lounge, 1375 N Lake, 9 p.m., $17, 17+