We Are Scientists

Wed 4th Aug, 2010 in Features

What a glorious feeling it must be, as a band, to have arrived at the release of your third studio album. No longer must one wade through the endless swamp of sophomore album cliches, furiously hoping for that rare follow-up acclaim – instead, at once, a chance to truly forge a passage within the zeitgeist. An opportunity emerges, however, to traipse down memory lane.

“I think fundamental to my musical growth as a kid was the fact that I had sister who was three years older – old enough to be an authority but still young enough to be someone that was also a like a playmate on a day-to-day basis, so we were definitely very close. She, for better or worse, was really into glam-metal,” We Are Scientists frontman Keith Murray reveals, dissecting his childhood.

“I think my first favorite albums were Duran Duran, and She’s So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper. Those were legitimately my two favorite records. I was also obsessed with the Ghostbusters theme song. But then once she descended into the glam-rock thing, I definitely followed and I was really, really into Poison and bands like that… for longer than I’d like to admit.”

Of course, memory lane reveals a wealth of obscurities, too. “Oh, man!” Murray laughs at the mention of Safety, Fun And Learning – the band’s first collection of recordings dating back almost a decade. “I haven’t listened to it for a while. And if I did, I’m pretty sure I’d crawl under a blanket somewhere.”

It comes as no surprise that the matter of Safety Fun And Learning should come left-of-field. The achievement that followed resembles, for Murray, a more official beginning. “Once we recorded With Love And Squalor that sort of became album zero for We Are Scientists.” But that’s not to dismiss the work of years gone by.

In fact, Murray excels in painting the picture of a band in an exciting time. “[The songs] were definitely operating in a world where we never anticipated in other people hearing them. So we were not afraid to do something truly indulgent but weirdly gratifying stuff in songs,” Murray explains. “Our songs would take really weird left turns and never come back. So there was that aspect of those older songs that I really do kind of like.”

A fast-forward to the present proves much is different for We Are Scientists. Their latest release, Barbara, emphasizes just how far Murray and his partner-in-rhyme Chris Cain have come since the early 00s. With the addition of ex-Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows, approaching the studio promised brand new experience and delivered truly.

“I think making this record was pretty interesting because we were sort of a new band all over again. We really wanted to make this record as a three-piece where Chris and I and Andy were all equal members in crafting this record. It was a pretty excitable position to be in, because we were all kind of giddy with the idea of being this new band. So there was definitely a lot more play involved and just pure enjoyment in the recording process,” Murray recalls.

“My least favorite part of making music is the literal, physical recording of it I like experimenting in the studio, but when literally they’re like ‘Ok, and rolling, play the song, and then it will be recorded’, there’s no real pleasure in that moment. So the fact that it was the three of us being all gung-ho about it definitely helped that situation. For practical and logistical purposes was broken up into four separate chunks. The usual studio tedium that sets in on week three of a recording session never actually happened, because we were never in the studio for more than five days straight.”

But now the burning question for fans and casual listeners alike is simply this: why Barbara? And, for who is Barbara? Murray refers to the album’s predecessor for the answer. “We did a tour of UK universities where our label wanted to do a Q & A or an acoustic performance during lunch or something, and our version of that was that we literally did an Anthony-Robbins self-help thing wearing suits and head microphones with PowerPoint presentations. We called that Brain Thrust Mastery as a parody,” he explains. “There was something about saying it all the time that felt really good! It obviously doesn’t have any actual meaning, but its pretty evocative,”

“I really hate it when bands pick grandiose, declarative statements with an album title. And I also kind of hate it when their album titles are clearly meant to be like earnestly meaning something but are totally idiotic and bereft of meaning. I kind of like that Brain Thrust Mastery is pointedly bereft of meaning but actually has some resonance. And its the same sort of thing with Barbara: the point isn’t that there is no Barbara, the point is that the record is Barbara! We named it, we didn’t title it!”

Among the first opportunities to hear their latest handiwork involved a micro-scooter and a reckless Murray, used to create what the band dubbed a “badass motherfucking video”. It would be the clip to accompany the second single to be lifted from Barbara – Nice Guys. The obscure inspiration for the idea has stuck with the frontman for many years. “It was definitely not a hugely popular video in the ‘States,” Murray begins, “but there was a band from the ninetines called Unsane, and they were a hardcore punk band, and they made a video that was nothing but really, really brutal skateboarding accidents. It was essentially just clips from skate videos, but only the most awful, awful crashes and flips and clear arm-breaks. I really didn’t like Unsane very much, but that video has really resonated with me forever – and not out of enjoyment! I think I had that in mind, but didn’t want to make a video as off putting as that. And it seemed like a nice twist, and one that people hadn’t done: to do it on a child’s scooter.”

The clip also features the addition of entirely inaccurate subtitles, obscuring Nice Guys’ lyrics with amusing results. Its soon discovered that Murray himself shares some affinity with the gag. “I’m the king of willfully making up other lyrics to songs. I’m also the king of singing those lyrics to the people that wrote them. If we’re with a friends band, I’ll hang out and sing their melodies with totally incorrect lyrics and its surprising to me how many people really hate it when you do that. You really, really piss them off,” he reveals, sheepishly.

“Its a phenomenon I don’t really get – I love misheard lyrics! Its essentially become a way of life for me these days. Its always out of affection I guess there is something to the sanctity of art, having it parodied willy-nilly might not be that palatable. But it is always, 100% done with affection and joy.”

We Are Scientists have returned to our shores to join an extravagant Splendour In The Grass bill with two additional shows to treat die-hards Down Under. For Murray, its a huge prospect indeed. “Obviously there’s a certain amount of treachery in being on the road for fifteen months straight,” he admits, “but legitimately, the thing that ought to make you be able to get over that is the fact that it is very likely that I would never have been to Australia in my entire life. I’m going there for my third time now, and when I go, people clap at me,”

“We have a pretty insanely enjoyable job which, if milked correctly, is easily more a gift than a burden.”

We Are Scientists also interviewed (and were interviewed by) Ash exclusively for FasterLouder

Photo by Dan Boud