REVIEW: WE ARE SCIENTISTS CARDIFF SOLUS (31/05/11)
Tonight concludes an eventful Bank Holiday weekend for the We Are Scientists trio. They’ve been busy with Dot-to-Dot Festival taking place in Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester over the last few days. So much so that even bassist Chris Cain had to admit that this was the first Bank Holiday weekend he “had not at least tried to start a family”. With the man’s personal obsessions with the holiday weekend aside, one had to wonder if these boys would turn up tired out? The answer was of course not a chance.
Though it’s been a long time now since their first major release ‘With Love and Squalor’ and singles like ‘Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt’ that shot them to relative global stardom, the bands retreat to smaller venues and a some what slight fade into the background of the surging indie scene may have genuinely benefited their live show. Back to being the holy trinity 3-piece of bass, drums and guitar, losing the touring guitarist/keyboardist. This stripped back performance has a more intimate, romantic feel than the epic sets they played to larger venues a few years back, all together a much more charming show.
Lead man Keith Murray bounced from side to side moving the microphone stand around the stage trying to cover every inch while drummer and former Razorlight stickman Andy Burrows provided the solid beat for which the two original Scientists bounce their high energy party songs off of. Though it’s been two albums since the big success of ‘Squalor’ We Are Scientists never shy away from the fact that those are the songs that the crowd came to hear unlike many bands who like to forget what made them who they are W.A.S embrace this playing all the big singles in a set list that perfectly creates the balance between personal and audience satisfaction.
While the newer material never disinterests or alienates the crowd it’s songs like; ‘It’s a Hit’ and even ‘Brain Thrust Mastery’s’-‘After Hours’ that really whip the crowd into the jumpy sing-along’s that W.A.S have built their reputation on. Surely it can’t be long before we see another album worth of singles.
Words: Adam Hooper
Photo: Laura Palmer
