We Are Scientists - 'Brain Thrust Mastery' (Virgin) Released 17/03/08

With We Are Scientists, they are admired by most, loved by a few and hated by, probably nobody. It’s hard to picture anyone actively disliking the charm, the wit and the frantic pop music that they fashion. A moment without watching their side-splitting youtube videos is a moment wasted, it would seem but musically, they are being exposed to a much wider audience since the release of debut ‘With Love And Squalor’. As ‘Brain Thrust Mastery’ finally reaches the musical sphere, they have a lot of people to please. But it almost seems like the band couldn’t care less about who they have to impress and how they want this album to be portrayed.

They’ve conjured up a sophomore album which sits similar to the debut, with added class, a little less humour and more music to boast about. It’s obvious now that if this record sells well, which it probably will, We Are Scientists may have to worry about the ‘sell-out’ categorization that bands get chucked in without warning sometimes. ‘After Hours’ has been heard by the mass audience of office workers and builders via. regular radio 1 plays and it’s sitting pretty as one of the most pleasant, tuneful and likeable singles released so far this year. Naturally, a new wave of hype has begun to arise out of the midst and the hardcore fans may not like it but from a neutral position, fame for the two comedians would be a huge benefit for all of us.

And even the nervous excitement reeking out of the fanbase will be settled down after an eavesdrop of opener ‘Ghouls’, most assertively the record highlight. It’ll be like nothing most fans will have heard before and most likely, they’ll be blown away by the delay-pedal induced glory – it’s the sound of Keith Murray and Chris Cain finally deciding to advance their sound, a brave decision that most certainly pays off. Despite this huge feat though, the majority of much else on ’Brain Thrust Mastery’ is what most people have come to expect – indie-pop with a confident, fast-paced outer shell. ‘Impatience’ and ‘Let’s See It’ are mind-blowingly catchy, even more so than the early hits of ‘Nobody Move…’ and ‘The Great Escape’, all forming around this simple verse-chorus structure and it’s what the band work best with.