The o2 Forum in Kentish Town supplies West Coast wacky indie-rockers We Are Scientists with the backdrop to the closing show on the band’s return to UK shores in support of the bands seventh studio album Huffy.
Having been underdogs and the underrated band of the golden era of noughties indie rock acts, We Are Scientists had an underlying edge over their peers. Whether that be from the post punk flavour of first With Love And Squalor to expanding on the synths with fifth Helter Selzter, there has always been several distinct soundscapes separating We Are Scientists from the field and their latest LP Huffy is not exempt.
Tracks take the basic We Are Scientists formulae, add in some extraordinary eccentricity in the form of brass sections and acoustic moments for a science experiment done right, even if it lacks a little explosion from time to time.
Brining some new material from Huffy with a decent nostalgic dose of classic We Are Scientists songs to UK shores, a place that welcomed these West Coast residents from the get go, feeling at home amongst some of British indie heroes from The Fratellis, The Wombats to Editors and everyone in between, We Are Scientists returned in fun filled, flamboyant fashion to the O2 Forum in Kentish town for the closing night on their Huffy support tour.
Coach Party and Modern Love warmed up a buzzing London crowd with their comforting sounds oozing in warmth and familiarity, before the rumble bundle in London Town commenced with We Are Scientists.
Walking out whilst raising a bottle of beer to the rowdy crowd, opening new number You’ve Lost Your Shit has all the makings both recorded and live to rival some of the band’s biggest hits from Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt and After Hours. All the band members from Keith Murray on lead vocals and guitar to Chris Cain on bass and backing vocals and Keith Carne doing the live drums are all balls of heightened energy, Murray running a marathon across the stage whilst the songs infectious vocals and punk like guitars remain intact.
Between tracks, there is plenty of on-stage banter to last a lifetime, outweighing the run time of each song on the set, or as Murray puts it, “people like coming out to live music for 7-10 minuets of chat between songs”. We Are Scientists are geniuses at talking about listenable crap you can’t help but communally laugh out loud about, even if it does concern Netflix and Ben And Jerry’s.
Joyous indie rock tunes resumed, the band’s hits got the crowd bouncing, with some serious levels of nostalgia floating in the air. From stone cold classics Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt, After Hours and The Great Escape, these songs serve as obvious fan favourites of not only the night but the band’s entire career to date.
Balancing out the Scientists’ smash singles with some brand-new stuff, songs taken from We Are Scientists most recent record, 2021’s Huffy are played throughout, tracks like Contact High, Sentimental Education and Brought Myself A Grave get a crowd of on board with We Are Scientists new material, making them recognise that this band isn’t just nostalgia.
“If we do play Nice Guys there will be a penalty” remarks Murray earlier on in the night, eating his own words as closer Nice Guys was played last after a few encore duties were fulfilled with the subdued Too Late and the fast rock danceable song that is This Scene Is Dead getting an outing before wrapping up the mammoth twenty song strong set with Nice Guys.
Thrilling, fun and full of laughs, We Are Scientists are the stand-up comics of indie rock tunes at their closing night on the band’s return to UK shores saw We Are Scientists still as hilariously funny, interactive and capable of pulling of some of the biggest underrated indie rock tunes from the noughties all the way up until the new ones of today.
8/10
Written by: Katie Conway-Flood
