popwreckoning

It’s no secret that I love We Are Scientists. Possibly a little bit too much. I love them so much that when I saw that they were playing in Seattle and Portland within the span of three days, how could I not go? Heck, if I had a passport I would have taken the trek over the border to Vancouver, BC in between the two shows. Sadly, I didn’t have one, but by double dose of WAS is pretty good for one week, I think.

Monday the 26^th started with the 3-ish hour drive south from where I live to Portland. From there I met up with some friends at Music Millennium on East Burnside in Portland, where We Are Scientists played a short in-store consisting of “Nice Guys” and “Pittsburgh” off their new disc Barbara, as well as a couple more. Check at the end of this post for some videos of the two in-stores I hit in Seattle and Portland. That night WAS played at the Doug Fir Lounge with Rewards (a.k.a. Aaron Pfenning of iPod-commercial-famed Chairlift). This being my first 21+ show, it was quite different than anything I’d ever experienced. First of all, the venue at the Doug Fir is downstairs from the restaurant, which is attached to a hotel. And the venue had air conditioning and cushy seats against the wall. So this was by far the most comfortable I’d ever been at a show before.

After the hour of waiting and watching the various circles of people get more and more inebriated, Rewards (I’m still not sure how to pronounce Pfenning) took the stage at just after 9 p.m. The floor was virtually empty at that point, so I was free to roam around to take pictures. Rewards is what I could call experimental seductive synth pop, if that makes any sense. The heavy bassline that you could feel reverberating through your whole body, Aaron’s understated swagger and deep whispery vocals almost reminded me of INXS’ “Need You Tonight,” except not cheesy. Also unlike the music the 80s, Rewards’ sound had a much more minimal approach to instrumentation, similar to The xx. Aaron definitely left some of the commercial-friendly aspects of Chairlift behind when pursuing his own – almost spooky, but sexy – solo stuff.

With how anxious as I was to see We Are Scientists, I really enjoyed Rewards. He played into the small crowd, acting quite casual on stage. About halfway through his set, he shed this Tommy Bahama lounge shirt, telling everyone that it was Keith’s (Murray) shirt. “I’m never wearing this thing again,” he said. In fact, this was the first time I’d seen in a long time that the openers and the headliners were so buddy-buddy. The last song of Rewards’ set called “Two Cardinals,” he brought all of We Are Scientists out on stage – Keith playing the drums, Chris playing bass, and WAS’s drummer Danny Allen (formerly of Youth Group) on a red Gibson SG. The stage was so full of love you couldn’t help but smile at Keith’s raucous and exuberant drumming. Since Rewards doesn’t actually have any albums or EPs out, I strongly recommend you go check out his MySpace page at Myspace.com/aaronpfenning, seeing that it’s the only place you can check his music out. Unless of course you see him on tour with WAS. Which I recommend even more.

At 10:15, the floor had filled up a bit, and people still clutched the beers they’d previously purchased. Keith Murray, Chris Cain, and Danny Allen came out on stage to very talkative crowd. Seriously, there were multiple exchanges between the guys and the audience. But that’s part of what I love about WAS so much – they’re chatty. Chattiness mixed with wittiness adds up to some hilarious banter. If my memory serves me correctly, they started with “Rules Don’t Stop,” the short and equally as catchy first single off Barbara. I was too excited to keep track of the set list completely, but thankfully my friend Adrian has a ridiculously good memory. So I know what songs they played, just not in what order. There was a mix of old songs like “This Scene is Dead” and “Inaction” and new ones like “Pittsburgh” and “Ambition.” I was disappointed not to hear “It’s A Hit” off With Love And Squalor, their phenomenal major label debut, but as Chris promised me in an interview back in May, we got a wicked version of “Chick Lit.” At one point someone in the front of the crowd demanded a bass solo, because Keith had some awesome guitar solos already. But before giving into the crowd’s demands, Chris gave this unbelievable explanation for what he was about to do. He said that most people who do bass solos care too much about tone, so he was going to play a “real” bass solo. And apparently according to Cain, a real bass solo doesn’t need to be plugged it. So he unplugged and rocked out like a 16-year-old boy playing air guitar to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Writhing around the floor with ridiculous facial expressions and all. And Murray stood there, staring at Chris in awe. Naturally, we all did as well.

There wasn’t much of an encore. Or maybe there was, but there just wasn’t a break between the main set and the encore. They played “The Great Escape,” “After Hours,” and I think it was “Cash Cow.” Or “Callbacks.” This confusion could have been avoided if they’d written down their set list. Thanks, guys.

After this show, I remembered how much I love this band. It had been over two years since I saw them live in Seattle for the first time, and after two days of nervous stomach, I could not have been more pleased. WAS is so full of energy and cheeky happiness that it’s impossible to not have fun. And chilling outside the Doug Fir after the show, it was so pleasant to finally talk to them in person. After chatting with Danny for a good ten minutes about touring in podunk towns and how it differs from Australia, I formally introduced myself to Chris.

“I’m Abby. I actually talked to you on the phone a couple months ago, for PopWreckoning?”

“Oh, you’re that Abby? Well thank you for your personal and professional interest in our band,” he said.

And then my friends and I threatened Chris and told him that they had to play “Lethal Enforcer” in Seattle, because it’s such a good tune – seriously, it’s like someone spoon-feeding awesome directly into your ears. There were hugs all around and we went along on our way because the owners of the Doug Fir told us that we couldn’t sit in the parking lot anymore seeing that it was about 2 a.m.

I took the next day to drive home and recover so I’d be ready for another day of We Are Scientists in Seattle, at the same venue I’d seen them play at two years ago at Neumo’s.

Wednesday night already started out great because I found free parking, so nothing could really ruin my night. Thankfully, nothing did.

That night WAS played an acoustic in-store at Sonic Boom Records on Capitol Hill before their show at Neumo’s, and from when I saw, because I was late, they played “After Hours,” “Jack and Ginger,” and “Rules Don’t Stop,” all while sitting criss-cross on the makeshift wooden stage. Before playing “Jack and Ginger,” Keith told everyone, “We’re playing a much more stripped down set at Neumo’s tonight,” because he’s just that sarcastic.

Just like Monday’s show at the Doug Fir, it took forever for Neumo’s to fill up. I didn’t have to stand up at the front from the beginning to get my spot. I had time to sit up in the bar. It was like a whole new world, because I’d never been upstairs in Neumo’s before. And I also had time to go talk to Keith who was peddling t-shirts and vinyls at the merch table and pick up a new copy of With Love And Squalor for Adrian who was sitting outside because she was not quite 21 yet, and she’d worn out her copy. Keith looked at me perplexed, “Wore it out? What did she do, rub it in grit?”

Aaron Pfenning took the stage, pre-empting his performance with, “my hologram band from Vancouver got held up at immigration.” This time he didn’t sport the Tommy Bahama shirt, but a slightly more dressed up ensemble, matched with his Marty McFly Nike high-tops. Again Rewards rocked it, at one point taking a step down in the crowd, tugging the mic cord behind him and meandering around the scarcely populated room.

Along with Rewards, WAS had a second opener, Seattle vintage rockers Black Whales. They weren’t nearly as intriguing as Rewards, but equally as catchy and more energetic, taking melodic cues from The Kinks and Bob Dylan. It was hook-y tambourine-laden guitar rock. Stuff that you and you parents could enjoy. I quite liked “Books of Tape,” with its ultra danceable beat and non-stop catchiness, from verse to bridge to chorus.

The title track off their EP Origins, released on Mt. Fuji records, was also a nice little ditty. Head on over to Black Whales’ MySpace for more information about their music and where to purchase their EP.

At this point Neumo’s had not quite maximum capacity – surely nothing like an all-ages show. WAS came out on stage to the excited crowd and started right in to “Nice Guys,” after Chris proclaimed to the audience “Welcome to Seattle.” A couple seconds later Keith replied, “Are you talking to me and Danny?” He wasn’t, Keith.

Again, the guys’ banter never gets old. Keith and Chris should seriously moonlight as stand-up comedians. After a couple oldies but goodies (the set list was virtually the same as Portland’s show), we got to rock out to “I Don’t Bite,” one of my favorite tracks off Barbara. It’s the heaviest song on the album, and employs Keith’s strong vocals (which I’m glad they brought back into the forefront for Barbara. It’s the one thing that I think Brain Thrust Mastery was sadly lacking.)

I may have been the only one standing right up front singing along to every song, at least the correct lyrics. Just like Adrian told me, I know We Are Scientists’ music so well that I can tell which song is coming next by how Keith tunes his guitar. And as soon as Keith started tuning his Telecaster for “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” I knew it was would get the room moving. And it surely did. I mean, how can you not dance and sing along to  “My body is your body, if you wanna use my body, go for it yeah!” It’s infectious. In fact, that’s how I can describe them – We Are Scientists is infectious, but in the best possible way. “It’s A Hit” wasn’t on the set list again, but thankfully Adrian was outside keeping track of all the songs in order, because I forgot my notebook to write it down (thanks, my friend). Actually as soon as the band was about to start “Rules Don’t Stop,” Keith started laughing flailing wildly on stage. He looked absolutely crazy, but it turned out that he was waving at Adrian standing outside in the back because a security guard had opened the door to let some of the hot air out.

During the encore, Chris started to explain to the audience that they’d be having a special guest come out for one of the songs.

“Eddie Vedder!” someone shouted from the audience.

Oh, Seattle.

“No, it’s not Eddie Vedder,” Chris replied sharply.

Aaron Pfenning came out to play the haunting “Two Cardinals” with them, Keith on drums, Chris on bass and Danny on lead guitar just like Portland.

It was such a special night. I honestly apologize for the length of this post, because I’m sure you’re probably getting tired of reading at this point. That’s why I’ve posted videos and pretty pictures to look at. But with it having been two years since I saw We Are Scientists, my favorite band in the whole wide world, I felt like I had to capture every detail. Because that’s really what we’re doing – telling stories. To make you feel like you’re there.

I’m just incredibly thankful that I had the chance to be there for both shows, because not only is We Are Scientists a great live band with sidesplitting banter and loving stage presence, but they’re also awfully lovely guys. If you get the chance to see them on the rest of this tour, don’t hesitate to approach Keith, Chris or Danny and tell them how awesome they are.

Seattle Set List:
1. Nice Guys
2. This Scene is Dead
3. Inaction
4. I Don’t Bite
5. Impatience
6. Let’s See It
7. Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
8. Rules Don’t Stop
9. Chick Lit
10. Pittsburgh
11. Ambition
12. Break It Up
13. Dinosaurs
14. Great Escape
15. Jack & Ginger
16. Two Cardinals (w/ Rewards)
17. After Hours

Here’s a couple videos from the in-stores.

Check out even more photos from the shows HERE and HERE.

“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