“You can’t control rock ‘n’ roll!” So goes a copyrighted saying proffered by We Are Scientists‘ bassist Chris Cain this past Thursday night at the Black Cat. That evening, Washington D.C. received a wonderful gift in the form of a lively gig from the New York-based indie rockers. As the second of only three gigs on “The Big Fuckin’ Deal Tour,” I was excited that my town was going to receive something truly special: not only would we hear the great songs from their amazing previous albums, but we would also get a preview of their forthcoming album to be released sometime this spring.
The support act for the night was Uninhabitable Mansions, a Brooklyn five-piece playing mostly upbeat pop/rock numbers. I imagine their unwieldy name may put off some from the get-go, but that would be really unfair, as they put on an enjoyable set. Lead singer/guitarist Robbie Guertin tentatively joked with his band mates between songs, reasonably successful in trying to garner the same kind of rapport that WAS have with their fans. At first, with songs like the upbeat “Do You Have a Strategy” made me think they were a straight-forward rock band, but two slower songs threw my radar off, proving to me that they were more versatile than I initially thought. Delivered in wordy Michael Stipe / R.E.M.’s “It’s The End of the World As We Know It” style, the song “We Already Know” was a fun way to end their set, setting audience members’ heads bopping.
WAS took the stage around 10 with the crowd cheering them as they got onstage. Along with wildly energetic versions of their songs, jokey banter between Cain and singer/guitarist Keith Murray is a hallmark of WAS shows. So it should come as no surprise that in addition to the great music, the two also made us laugh a lot with their jokes. After playing a new track called “Jack and Ginger,” Murray laid into a fan stage right that had shouted, “I love Chris!” and replied in mock disgust, “What the heck are you doing on the Keith Murray side? You all know I stand on this side of the stage and Chris stands on the other!” Later on, the two discussed what might happen if American novelist Philip Roth decided to go head-to-head with WAS (presumably in songwriting???), with Cain insisting Roth did that previously with Bon Jovi, and Bon Jovi lost.
You may have noticed I haven’t talked about WAS’s drummer yet. The band has gone through a series of them since they started. Last year there was much talk among WAS fans when former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows was recruited to play with the band; indeed, he played drums on the new album. However, Burrows was unable to join Cain and Murray on this tour, so drummer Danny Allen (on temporary loan from Aussie band Youth Group) was drafted as an interim replacement. During the set, Cain and Murray asked the audience whom they thought Allen looked like; an audience member shouted, “Mark Twain!” Cain looked at Allen, saying, “If you are Mark Twain, consider your contract with us null and void.” Personally, I thought he looked like a cross between Shakespeare and the late, great Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. But forget who he looks like; Allen handily provided the powerful backbeats to WAS’s songs. And let’s face it: the majority of WAS’s songs rely on driving beats, and on songs like “Inaction” and “It’s a Hit,” Allen’s drumming was spot on.
Hearing the crowd around you sing along to every word of a song is an incredible feeling, and this experience was repeated throughout the night as the guys tore through fan favorites like “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” from With Love and Squalor (2005) and “Chick Lit” from Brain Thrust Mastery (2008). “Dinosaurs,” a track from Brain Thrust Mastery, has never really been a favorite of mine. On this night, however, it was fantastic live: the song building and building in intensity to its conclusion and Murray shouting, “It’s natural selection; it’s natural selection; it’s natural selection!” with reckless abandon. As a former biology student, I chuckled to myself, seriously doubting Charles Darwin would have approved.
After the raucous rock-out that is “The Great Escape” and the band left the stage, we all incorrectly assumed that based on the set list, the background music being piped in on the PA, and the unplugging of Murray’s yellow Fender, there would be no encore. However, to our delight and probably somewhat to the annoyance of the band’s guitar tech, they returned to close out the night with a rousing rendition of “Cash Cow.” Murray kept thanking us all night for being so great: Keith, Chris and Danny, on behalf of the Black Cat audience that night, the feeling was totally mutual. And given the preview of four great new tracks, I’m chomping at the bit for the new album.
We Are Scientists: website | myspace | Brain Thrust Mastery review | @ johnny brenda’s | @ austin music hall | @ electric factory
Uninhabitable Mansions: website | myspace
