We Are Scientists Barbara (Masterswan)
4/5
By: Theo Krekis
Well, here we have it - the fourth endeavour (fifth if you include Crap Attack) from We Are Scientists. Crunch time. A question I’m sure that plagues their minds is the following – are we clutching on to a lost dream, or are we still making music which will make people jump around their bedrooms whilst pretending to be the rock stars they’ll never be? Or perhaps they’re just having too much fun to contemplate anything too hard.
The fourth or fifth album, which ever you prefer, from We Are Scientists is simply titled Barbara. As a fan of brashly tuneful guitar pop, when previous LP Brain Thrust Mastery was released, I’ve no shame in saying I was blown away - very few albums have the ability to captivate me from start to finish, but it did just that. The band’s songwriting had progressed massively since breakthrough effort With Love and Squalor, proving their diversity with tracks like ‘Lethal Enforcer’ and the epic opening track ‘Ghouls’, but still maintaining their knack for catchy indie pop like ‘Let’s See It’ and ‘Chick Lit’.
So when I sat down in my throne (beer stained sofa decorated with fag ash) to listen to Barbara, I was a body of mixed emotion; confused and excited, like a small child dizzy on lemonade. I didn’t know what to expect, but hoped they hadn’t lost their flare and began writing songs about ridiculous things like sex being on fire, or extinguished, or just fire extinguishers for that matter. In my honest opinion, I didn’t think they were going to pull it off. I had my doubts.
Let me add the pivotal conjunction – BUT – and now the dramatic pause... ladies and gentlemen, they smashed it, spanked it, nailed it and any other term meaning ‘success!’ which tickles your fancy. Each track on Barbara leaves you as if it’s been your favourite track since you started listening to music; with trademark catchy riffs and lyrics which you find yourself singing along to despite the track not even finishing its first play.
The album opens with Rules Don’t Stop Me; an upbeat number which had me playing air drum for the best part of two whole minutes. With more contemplative yet never boring efforts like ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘Foreign Kicks’ breaking the album up nicely, allowing you to unwind and experience the mellower side of the band’s capabilities. We Are Amazed. We Are Dazzled. We Are YES. I’d like if you went out and bought it – preferably now.
Artists in this article: We Are Scientists
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