Review: We Are Scientists at The Academy

We Are Scientists – Academy, Dublin – November 29th

Review by James Hendicott
Photos by Kieran Frost

We Are Scientists – as you might be aware – are not only musicians, but also the producers of American comedy ‘Steve Wants His Money’. The comedy aspect is a heavy focus: on stage, much of the trio’s performance is based around royally taking the piss. They spout witticisms on the audience (“you’ll cheer anything, how are we meant to get any objective feedback?”), each other (“don’t start the song yet, I just need to do something” – followed by a quick and pointless twiddle of front man Keith’s guitar) and even assorted inanimate objects dotted around the stage (Chris’ silent argument with a bottle of wine he’s managed to consume most of during the course of a short, sharp set). In other words, it’s all a bit silly.

Not that there’s anything wrong with silly. To expect anything else from the band who promoted quick-selling breakthrough album ‘With Love And Squalor’ using a track sarcastically titled ‘Cash Cow’ (“I’m not going to wait for anything to happen, all of this at once I’m ready for the cash”) and still exhibit the mannerisms of a fifteen year old would be unreasonable, and in the case of We Are Scientists, it’s silliness that sells.

The top tracks tonight are heavily drawn from that first album, which – even despite the exclusion of fan’s favorite ‘Lousy Reputation’ – still offers up the most raucous of their hits, with riff-heavy sing-a-longs ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’, ‘It’s A Hit’ and ‘Inaction’ all given an airing. In truth, having caught We Are Scientists on their first ever European jaunt the better part of a decade ago, we can’t help but feel that their mannerisms and stage presence have shown significantly more development over the years than their music. Barbara (or Barbara’s, as Chris has rebranded it) contains plenty in the way of feel good pop rock but it’s far from a revolution (or even an improvement). Frankly, when the tracks from ‘With Love And Squalor’ populated the entire set the show was significantly stronger.

Still, when a band play with this kind of energy, and with the capacity to make the revolving door of kids down the front leap around as though the floor’s on fire, there’s little to argue with. Having always been more successful in the UK and Ireland than they’ve ever managed in their native US, We Are Scientists have every reason to come here and play their socks off. As Oxegen early this year demonstrated equally effectively, you don’t have to be a musical purist to have a whole lot of fun, and good, slightly unclean fun is exactly what tonight is all about. Horray for moments of three-chord, rock-out air-guitar-inducing pleasure.