We Are Scientists: With Love And Squalor

What? Really? Come on… there must be room for one more on the train?

Granted, we’re bombarded with these bands in their thousands at the moment and you’ve all buggered off to see the Arctic Monkeys, but wait around a second and take a look.

California-born but New York livin’ power trio We Are Scientists have extreme melodo-nuggets in their heaps – see the hip thrusting joie de sex of ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’, second single ‘The Great Escape’ and the throat-straining ‘It’s A Hit’ – but there’s a weight and depth on ‘With Love And Squalor’ as well. The triple harmony attack of ‘Can’t Lose’ clutters and prowls with streaks of deathly chanting and barking guitars while standout power-emo-dirge ‘Textbook’ sounds like a testicle-enhanced take on Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’. ‘Callbacks’ is a dark, thundering effort full of late-night sodden misery and ‘Cash Cow’ is a propane-injected assault on boho, sell-out culture.

Indeed, ignoring the fact that the trio offer some of the more amusing on-stage sobriquets (also check their website for humour-based excellence), these seem troubled men, weary of the continuing vacancies of modern city lights. Confusion, bile and cynicism are served up in equal measure. And of course girls are an eternal source of emotional distress. ‘It’s A Hit’ sums up the malaise of interacting with the better half of this world’s gender divide as hope is duly crushed by end of the night depression.

Regardless, ‘With Love And Squalor’ still stands up as a fist pumping, hip rotating roar of an LP. And to be honest, it’s somewhat refreshing to peer across the ocean for our indie thrills, really it is. You’d be hard pressed to find a better condensing of urban humdrum in under forty minutes this autumn.