We Are Scientists’ debut LP With Love and Squalor sounded like a party. It was excellent; fast, frenetic, lively, and most of all fun. The group’s follow-up, Brain Thrust Mastery is the ensuing hangover. Everything that made the last effort seem so grad is now the forgotten past. What’s left are slurred ideas, painful noise, and a lost sense of humor. It’d probably be best to just take some pills and sleep this album off.
The record is a complete departure from the sound that the band had perfected in previous efforts (counting EPs). We Are Scientists had a fairly distinct sound based on the 3 main instruments (guitar, bass, drums) never doing the same thing in a rhythmic or stylistic sense. That’s completely gone on Brain Thrust Mastery. In its place is a far more generic sound with far more electronic touches (read: synths), that lacks any type of excitement. Tracks like “Ghouls” and “Let’s See It” showcase this digital sounding malaise. Probably the main reason behind this is the addition keys has make it so that guitar work doesn’t have to carry the music. Instead of great rhythm guitar force the the band is capable of unleashing, the guitar is left to add wimpy little touches that are soooooo boring (see: “Legal Enforcer”). Heck, the unspectacular “Dinosaurs” stood out simply because it seemed upbeat. It’s a sad state of affairs.
Despite all of Brain Thrust Mastery‘s flaws, the album does feature the single “After Hours,” which is just about as perfect as pop song can be. It almost makes you forget the rest of the material. The ode to nightcaps has a fantastic hook, pure and potent lyrics, a variety of instruments without seeming overdone, and is somehow simultaneously intimate and grandiose. It’s incredible that a song that does everything right is on an album that features no other songs that do anything right.
While some might defend Brain Thrust Mastery saying We Are Scientists should get credit for trying a new, different sound, that should never be an acceptable excuse for bad music. The band has proven they can churn out fantastic work with a certain style, so a complete miss in another sonic realm is unacceptable. Stir up your best hangover remedy and just hope We Are Scientists throw a better bash next weekend.
Review Score: 2.8
Leave a Comment
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
