We Are Scientists live review by Rob Johnson
We Are Scientists have been quietly releasing albums every couple of years for two decades now, with their upcoming ninth album, Qualifying Miles, due for release in July of 2025. Crookes Social Club in Sheffield, while a fine venue, may seem like an unlikely spot for an iconic indie rock band, but it soon becomes clear that this is the perfect match-up between artist and venue…
Consisting of guitarist and vocalist Keith Murray, bass guitarist Chris Cain and longtime touring drummer Keith Carne, We Are Scientists take to the stage and immediately burst into ‘This Scene is Dead’. The band are a few days away from a big outdoor show supporting the Kaiser Chiefs in which they will play their first album, With Love and Squalor, in full. Crookes Social Club has been chosen as a warm-up venue for that show, and that means that Sheffield is also getting the album in full (aside from ‘Worth the Wait’). The New York band glide into ‘Rules Don’t Stop’, and it’s worth noting how accomplished the sound setup is. The levels are perfect, every note sounds crisp, Murray’s unmistakable vocals are on top form, and he can shred with the best of them. Cain caresses his bass guitar with a slinky dexterity. All is right with the world. ‘It’s a Hit’ and ‘Lousy Reputation’ serve as proof that With Love and Squalor has aged beautifully as a debut record, but it’s not all wistful nostalgia; we are also treated to four new songs, with ‘Please Don’t Say It’ the first to appear from their latest record.
It’s not just the music that has aged well. As a fellow man whose hair has gone grey early in life, it’s nice to see Murray serving as such a beacon of hope for the grey-haired community. He is the silverest of silver foxes. There is hope for all of us. ‘Can’t Lose’ has always been one of the band’s best songs, and it sounds incredible here, although when Murray sings ‘I might wanna stop drinking’, the Sheffield crowd appears to decide that more drinking is preferable. In between songs, the band deliver some of their trademark banter with Cain ruefully complaining about the fact they’ve never won a Grammy, and this conversational onstage patter only adds to the already intimate atmosphere. ‘Inaction’ is a song meant to be played in small, sweaty rooms, and it’s a highlight here, with Cain’s thundering bassline shaking the walls and pounding the doors. The unmistakable opening riff from ‘The Great Escape’ gets probably the biggest cheer of the night before the band closes off the first part of the set with a beautifully delivered rendition of ‘Less From You’.
The band returns to the stage with a well-received performance of new song ‘What You Want is Gone’, but in terms of a set closer, there can only be one. ‘After Hours’ is a perfect concluding song with its repeated refrain ‘We’re all right where we’re supposed to be’, taking on an added prescience in a packed room of music lovers all there for a great time. It’s a moment.
While that first We Are Scientists record still sounds as vital and propulsive as ever, this is not a band resting on their laurels. What makes a great live show? Sound quality. Setlist. Charisma. Technical skill. A feeling that band and audience are in simpatico. Most of all, that the artist loves playing their songs as much as the crowd loves hearing them. On all of these criteria and more, We Are Scientists at Crookes Social Club succeeds – a real night to remember.
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