The top deck of the Hifi Bar was closed for the evening, which ensured a good atmosphere as a small but appreciative crowd turned up for New York’s bright young things, We Are Scientists (henceforth known as WAS).  Geek-chic was definitely the order of the day for those who wandered on down to see the facially hirsute trio, with many a striped shirt glimpsed amongst the nerd-glasses.

The trio wandered out on stage and after introducing us to their Australian mascot – Bruce the blow up wallaby and they quickly set about making said stage their own. They dropped Triple J fave, ‘Nobody move, nobody get hurt’ early in the set which had the crowd on side early. The rest of the set followed on in a similar vein – pop-punk tunes built around angular guitar riffs over a vaguely danceable beat.

Whilst it would be initially easy to label WAS as yet another post-punk nu-nu-nu-wave modern rock band, their energy and enthusiasm outshone this in a live setting. I’d previously put them in that basket myself and tonight there were many moments which reminded me of Franz/Strokes/Killers; they even conjured up a less gloomy Editors at some points with their trebly, reverb-soaked guitars and impassioned vocals.

Singer/guitarist Keith Murray certainly does share a vocal similarity with Brandon Flowers, but WAS are easier to like because they furiously take the piss out of each other between songs and they’re not likely to appear in advertisements any time soon.

Murray and bassist Chris Cain kept up a jokey banter all set and despite the odd cheesy comment, (“You’re our best crowd ever,” et al…) they did seem genuinely surprised and pleased at the crowds response. So unprepared were they for their popularity, they churned through their entire set with no thought for an encore.

But the final couplet of the ‘The Great Escape’ and the ‘Beach Boys Be My Baby’ has the crowd in raptures and they exit with aplomb. I leave with a newfound respect for the band; they were derivative, but they played with skill and energy and the kiddies lapped it up. I reckon a larger crowd will await when they return to our shores with more tunes.