We Are Scientists – “Barbara”

We Are Scientists’ new disc, titled Barbara, falls short of the line initially watermarked by their major label debut With Love and Squalor and fails to push new ground or flourish with the old blueprint. The ten songs on Barbara are only able to pull off a few moments worth noting, and the rest of the album lies in no man’s land; between the interesting experiment and the reprised classic.

With the best of We Are Scientists’ earlier work it was the band’s ability to push their strong melodies with a powerful rhythm section which made them interesting. Bassist Chris Cain’s earlier efforts lent weight to songs that would otherwise be flat, trying pop songs, which is what the material on Barbara is reduced to. At the record’s most vitriolic moments, while the energy builds and a dynamic guitar is about to take off, the muted rhythm section is noticeably absent. Most of the album begs for a more powerful bass, and it’s not even that the instrument isn’t there, it’s simply that it needs turned up, like, way up.

It seems as though We Are Scientists are trying to fit perfectly into a trite niche of indie rock, and maybe that’s good enough, but after some of their earlier efforts this new approach is flailing. The track “Pittsburgh” is the album’s best song with an almost perfect mix; the guitar is subtle, the vocals are commanding, but, most importantly, the bass is dominant and tangible.

The one thing this band always does well is bring their unique humour (see “Advice” section of their site) to the table, and the liner notes on Barbara almost make the album a success… almost. The WAS boys provide their own “Rules of Romance” with the record and reading their lessons on love is surprisingly funny; it’s hard to hate the album when they’re obviously not taking themselves too seriously. The record’s not terrible, but it’s not great, and I don’t know who Barbara is, but I wonder what she did to deserve this.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Rules Don’t Stop
02. I Don’t Bite
03. Nice Guys
04. Jack & Ginger
05. Pittsburgh
06. Ambition
07. Break It Up
08. Foreign Kicks
09. You Should Learn
10. Central AC

Run Time: 31.54
Release Date: 06.15.2010