By Samir Mathur
Contributing writer
Staff Page
I’m conflicted about We Are Scientists. The first time I saw them, five years ago, they were opening for some other band that I can’t remember, and they blew me away. They ripped through most of their great record ‘With Love and Squalor’ in half an hour and I went from not knowing much about them to becoming a big fan. I even bought a t-shirt! A year or so later, they returned to the same venue, (Club Downunder in Tallahassee, since you ask), this time as headliners, played most of the same songs, and I hated it. HATED it.
What had changed? The two main dudes in the band, singer-guitarist Keith Murray, and bassist Chris Cain, had started talking onstage. And look, I don’t want bands to play for an hour without ever looking up and acknowledging the audience (talking to you, Spiritualized), but the guys in WAS think they are really, really funny. Their Wikipedia page even has a section entitled “Comedy,” which you don’t need on a band’s wiki page. Between each song, the banter between the two of them was interminable, and it felt like they were trying really hard to be funny, or worse, wacky. I could tell that I wasn’t the only one thinking “Enough of this extended riff about what would happen if sharks could fart, just play ‘Callbacks’ already”.
Since then, they’ve put out a couple of records that are both pretty good, not quite as catchy as ‘With Love and Squalor,’ but certainly not terrible, and each with a couple of great singles. But from what I understand, they still want to be seen as hilarious and put a lot of work to that end – hence the web series and newspaper columns.
Again, I know I sound like a curmudgeon about this, and I want to stress that I do think they’re a good band, but I think the opening sentence of this piece from ClashMusic.com says it all: “These days We Are Scientists seem to be better known for their zany sense of humour than their music.” That’s not a good thing. I’ll probably be at the Social on Thursday, so if you see someone jumping up and down during the songs, but rolling their eyes between all the songs, be sure to say hello.
Opening will be Athens indie band Twin Tigers, whom I have somehow managed to see three times this year. They’re always solid, and I really like their song ‘Grey Waves’. After supporting the Hold Steady, Interpol and now We Are Scientists, I wonder when they’ll get to headline their own show in Orlando.
We Are Scientists play The Social on Thursday (10/21) with Twin Tigers and Rewards.
Tickets are $12-$14, available online or from Park Ave CDs.
Contributing writer
Staff Page
I’m conflicted about We Are Scientists. The first time I saw them, five years ago, they were opening for some other band that I can’t remember, and they blew me away. They ripped through most of their great record ‘With Love and Squalor’ in half an hour and I went from not knowing much about them to becoming a big fan. I even bought a t-shirt! A year or so later, they returned to the same venue, (Club Downunder in Tallahassee, since you ask), this time as headliners, played most of the same songs, and I hated it. HATED it.
What had changed? The two main dudes in the band, singer-guitarist Keith Murray, and bassist Chris Cain, had started talking onstage. And look, I don’t want bands to play for an hour without ever looking up and acknowledging the audience (talking to you, Spiritualized), but the guys in WAS think they are really, really funny. Their Wikipedia page even has a section entitled “Comedy,” which you don’t need on a band’s wiki page. Between each song, the banter between the two of them was interminable, and it felt like they were trying really hard to be funny, or worse, wacky. I could tell that I wasn’t the only one thinking “Enough of this extended riff about what would happen if sharks could fart, just play ‘Callbacks’ already”.
Since then, they’ve put out a couple of records that are both pretty good, not quite as catchy as ‘With Love and Squalor,’ but certainly not terrible, and each with a couple of great singles. But from what I understand, they still want to be seen as hilarious and put a lot of work to that end – hence the web series and newspaper columns.
Again, I know I sound like a curmudgeon about this, and I want to stress that I do think they’re a good band, but I think the opening sentence of this piece from ClashMusic.com says it all: “These days We Are Scientists seem to be better known for their zany sense of humour than their music.” That’s not a good thing. I’ll probably be at the Social on Thursday, so if you see someone jumping up and down during the songs, but rolling their eyes between all the songs, be sure to say hello.
Opening will be Athens indie band Twin Tigers, whom I have somehow managed to see three times this year. They’re always solid, and I really like their song ‘Grey Waves’. After supporting the Hold Steady, Interpol and now We Are Scientists, I wonder when they’ll get to headline their own show in Orlando.
We Are Scientists play The Social on Thursday (10/21) with Twin Tigers and Rewards.
Tickets are $12-$14, available online or from Park Ave CDs.