We Are Scientists
Brain/ Thrust/ Mastery
Virgin/ EMI


Take one part catchy riffs, mix with a pinch of distortion, two shakes of funky drum beats, add eccentricity to taste and you get We Are Scientists' new album. On 'Brain Thrust Mastery', the effervescent New York-based indie rockers have deserted their Bunsen burners and safety goggles for a moment to get loud and get jumping.

The jumping is definitely contagious, whether you like it or not. Let's See It is one of those rev-up numbers with a hook that dives under your skin and dances around wildly. After Hours is super imposing, with frontman Keith Murray's strong vocal sounding very Interpol-esque with a quirkier instrumental. Album opener Ghouls has a niggling riff, teasing the listener and gradually building up to a killer crescendo. The lyrics, "we all recognise that I'm the problem here," haunted me for days - evidently one of the side-effects you can expect from playing this record.

The weird and wonderful Scientists have a great knack for mixing a myriad of instruments' contrasting notes and arranging them in complementary yet interesting fashion. Punk, grunge, electro-rock - it's all there. Lethal Enforcer takes us back to the 80s via synth pop and retro percussion. The tune conveys a dorky high-school reunion feeling, resuscitating those not so flash memories of big hair and blue eye-shadow. Chick Lit is highly salacious indeed, possessing an odd familiarity. With guitars aplenty throughout, the lads sax it up in That's What Counts, just for a dash of something different.

Full of fast-paced fun and a frenetic, excitable energy, the Scientists' renowned zaniness shines through their explosive music. Proving nerdiness can be cool, the album pumps out infectious tunes which are thrust into listeners' brains with the precision and mastery of a mad scientist.

Elise Beacom