We Are Scientists calculates everything it does with a precision that does the band’s name proud.
From the trio’s irresistible melodies to its shabby-chic frocks to its subtly snarky lyrics, the group seems prefab and palatable in every way.
But listen closer and you’ll hear a passion lacking in similar new wave-aping bands like The Killers or She Wants Revenge. Dance-friendly and hook-laden as they may be, We Are Scientists’ songs pack a substantive lyrical punch with tales of boozy regret and late-night manipulation.
Perhaps that’s how this post-punk trio earned such glowing accolades in Great Britain, where it enjoys near-superstar status. While it’s not uncommon for a mainstream British act to be virtually unknown in the U.S. (from Cliff Richard back in the 1960s to today’s Blur or, until recently, Arctic Monkeys), the opposite is rarely true.
We Are Scientists hits Denver on Saturday to play the Hi-Dive, a 280-person venue known for its intimate indie rock shows. Conversely, the band’s April headlining tour of Great Britain has sold out all its 1,500- to 2,000-seat venues.
So how does a band that draws five times more fans in the U.K. feel about playing to smaller crowds stateside?
“By virtue of the fact that we have these really big shows coming up, there will be something nice about playing the less orchestrated shows in the U.S.” singer and guitarist Keith Murray said by phone from France. “The bulk of our career before last August was essentially that kind of show for about four years.”
Murray said he believes We Are Scientists has two careers: a European one and a U.S. one. In Europe, the band recently finished the sold-out NME Shockwaves tour, which featured Maximo Park and Arctic Monkeys – a buzz group currently laying claim to the fastest-selling debut album in British history.
“We’re very good friends with them now, and I’m sure we’re going to tour with them in the near future,” Murray said. “The audience went ballistic every night.”
American fans are just catching on, even though We Are Scientists’ debut, “With Love and Squalor,” has been available here since Jan. 10. Appearances at festivals like the CMJ Music Marathon garnered positive press, and regular shows in their Brooklyn hometown spurred hipster goodwill.
It might sound strange for a band that has been around since 2000 to be heralded as a hot “new” act, but timing is everything. When Murray, bassist Chris Cain and drummer Michael Tapper formed We Are Scientists, they couldn’t have predicted New York’s garage rock and new-wave revival, which has led acts like The Strokes, Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to international success.
“Our evolution is a product of not wanting to be playing the same thing for six years,” Murray said. “In some respects we do sort of think of ourselves as a new band, just because up until a year ago we weren’t doing it full time.”
Self-releasing albums and slogging through day jobs are familiar to 95 percent of musicians. But We Are Scientists generated major label interest before a feeding frenzy could begin. Virgin Records, the band’s current home, swooped in with an offer before We Are Scientists’ much-hyped 2005 appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
“They had this sort of dreadful premonition of us blowing up after South by Southwest,” Murray said. “We held off because we wanted to see what happened, and, predictably, we got a lot of interest. But it was cool that Virgin had made their offer before then.”
Such business savvy might not seem very punk-rock, but it keeps bands from being exploited and labels from missing out on good music.
“Nobody wants to be the person that didn’t even try to find the Arctic Monkeys,” Murray said. “You’d look like a total idiot.”
If We Are Scientists eventually harvests as much American goodwill as they have across the pond, whoever signed them will look like a genius.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-820-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
We Are Scientists
INDIE ROCK|Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway; 9 p.m. Saturday, with the Grates, Foreign Born|$10; $12 AT DOOR|hi-dive.com or 720-570-4500
