If you have ever sat by the phone waiting for a call or text from someone special, I have a similar feeling when Joe asks me to select the album of the week for Record Club. I have a list of five albums I keep on my phone, all of which could be future selections, and a few of them by British Artists which I expect will be less familiar to members of Record Club. This week however I opted for We Are Scientists because I felt in the mood to listen to the album the day that Joe asked.
As such, we have a US rock band (I thought they were from New York, but Wikipedia informed me that, whilst they are New York based, the band was actually formed in Berkeley, California), who were arguably more successful in the UK than the US. I always found this a curious trend, as so many British bands want to break into the larger US market. Given they are / were more popular in the UK though hopefully it means it will be a new listen for many members (I already know it is for Joe).
This album was bouncing around whilst I was at high school, but from my hazy memory, I think I was probably most familiar with it at University (for reference, I was at University from 2009 onwards). I think the album is a fun listen, and there are so many songs on it I enjoy that I have a hard time picking favorites. The opener "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" is probably their most popular song, but I think I have overplayed it to the point that I don't connect with it in a way I once did.
On that note, "don't connect with it in a way I once did" is probably a perfect summary of how I felt after listening to the album again. When I listened to this album again for Record Club, it reminded me of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I'm Not, my other album pick. Not because I think they sound similar, but because I realized that I loved both these albums at University, and the themes in the albums were more relevant for me then.
I took a quick look at Pitchfork's review of the album, and whilst not scathing, a criticism it had which I can respect is a kind of "cut-and-paste approach" in the album. You can't exactly say the themes are broad, and whilst I draw similarity to Whatever People Say I Am above, I would argue that album covered more ground and explored those themes better than this album.
Overall, for me, the album still holds up, and I did enjoy listening to it again. I likely won't play it start to finish like I used to, but there are songs on it I enjoy and are on my playlists. I hope you all enjoyed it at least a little bit. For anyone who really enjoyed the album, I recently came across some songs from their 2008 album, Brain Thrust Mastery, that I really liked. I intend to listen to that album through from start to finish one of these days.
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