We Are Scientists keeps tongues firmly in cheek
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 30, 2006
We Are Scientists – a trio of hooligans who originally met while attending Pomona College outside of Los Angeles – lament little about the band's move to New York in 2001. Lead singer and guitarist Keith Murray used his deadpan tone to illustrate the best and worst of things about living in Southern California.
“The best thing about Southern California is the Mexican food,” recalled a grieving Murray as he traveled in a tour van somewhere on a Texas highway. “The worst thing about Southern California is when you inevitably leave – as you must – you will miss the Mexican food. In any way that Southern California thinks it is somehow defined by anything other than Mexican food, that is simple delusion. We have been to Akron, Ohio. And for a moment, I thought I was in West Covina, but I couldn't get a single enchilada.”
Despite the obvious lack of high-quality enchiladas in Akron or NYC, We Are Scientists has moved onto greener pastures. Murray – along with bassist Chris Cain and drummer Michael Taper – sparked major-label interest at 2005's South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Said Murray: “We didn't think anybody would know who we were. As far as we could tell, nobody really did. But South By Southwest is widely regarded by people as our turning point.”
Instead of getting tangled in label commitments, the band decided to self-record an album while the material remained fresh. The set of 12 songs, later to become 2006's “With Love and Squalor,” proved a good tool to lure record labels.
“We recorded it as live as possible with a friend of ours producing it, just so we could have an album in hand,” said Murray, remembering the process. “We wanted to give the illusion that all these labels could be missing out at moment's notice. I'll be honest with you: It worked. Every label man that I met with face-to-face after that had distinct fear in his eyes. Basically, I would hold it just out of reach and when they reached for it I would slap their hand away. I'll be honest, there was a lot of torment delivered unto the music industry courtesy of We Are Scientists. Then, we buckled almost instantly once the offers started rolling in.”
This courtship led to a deal with Virgin Records, which released “With Love and Squalor” in the States Jan. 10. Chippy lyrics pepper the 12 ironclad rock tunes on the band's debut, an exercise in tongue-in-cheek rock 'n' roll. But these guys have the musical chops to back their throw-caution-to-the-wind modus operandi.
“Despite our name, I think you'll detect the distinct lack of scientific discussion in most things we do, including any actual scientific research we are involved in,” remarked Murray. “But when we do get hired on as scientific consultants for labs or large-machinery construction, we try to be as emotional and impulsive and act with as little reason as possible to avoid the obvious typecasting of scientists.”
While they fit nicely into the Franz Ferdinand/Futureheads/Bloc Party pantheon of bands recycling 1980s post-punk sounds, We Are Scientists rises above the hordes scrambling to cling onto the sound du jour with its intelligent lyrics and edgy attitude.
The infectious nature of “Love and Squalor” seems primed for radio airplay, a huge selling point for labels when they came knocking. The record sells itself, and the band has been reaping the benefits of partnering with Virgin.
“For the band, it's an entirely different story now (since signing the record deal),” said Murray, who takes the Casbah stage with his band Sunday. “We can actually go to San Diego and sell a reasonable amount of tickets, whereas before, the only reason to go to San Diego would be to get even closer to Mexico for some enchiladas.
“But our shows are amazingly different now. In the UK on our next tour we're doing 2,000-person venues, which are sold out in two or three days. So it helps to have people behind you.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
