Friday October 6, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 40 |
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Friday, Aug 29, 2008
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Where It's At |
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| Where It's At: We Are Scientists banging at Neumo's; The Stills revving up The Showbox | ||
| by Albert Rodriguez and Jessica Browning
- SGN A&E Writers
We Are Scientists w/ Art Brut Saturday, October 7 - 8pm Neumo's - $13 / www.ticketswest.com Coolest band of 2006? Too early to say, but a pair of strong contenders are Wolfmother and We Are Scientists. We'll talk about Wolfmother in December, when they return to Seattle for a performance at the Moore Theatre. Leaving us to focus our attention on We Are Scientists, a riveting alt rock trio from the Big Apple that has toured non-stop since the start of the year. The threesome, comprised of Keith Murray (guitar, lead vocals), Chris Cain (bass) and Mike Tapper (drums), caught my attention last fall, months before the release of their debut With Love and Squalor. It was love at first sound. I couldn't stop listening to an advance copy of the CD or bringing it up in conversation within personal music circles. To this day, it's one of my favorite discs to spin at work and at home. What separates We Are Scientists from a heaping pile of upstart rock bands is simple. Their songs, like "Inaction", "Cash Cow" and "The Great Escape", are better written and better sounding with cheery lyrics and catchy, explosive guitar riffs. From track one to track twelve, With Love and Squalor is guaranteed to get your blood flowing - there's little time to catch your breath once you press start on your iPOD. The music videos for these songs are fun to watch, especially "The Great Escape", which features our blossoming trio in the shower together. Yep, they're naked. At least, north of the belly button they are. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Keith Murray gives Brandon Flowers a run for his money in the sexiest rocker department. Having met both of these leading men, Murray gets my vote. He's also the sweeter of the two. We Are Scientists are sharing headlining duties with Art Brut on a coast-to-coast tour. Earlier in 2006, the three-piece opened shows for Mercury Music Prize winners Arctic Monkeys and played several big events, including this summer's Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge. The band's previous in-city appearance was back in April at The Crocodile Café, where the Arctic Monkeys and Ben Harper were spotted in the large, vivacious crowd. At Neumo's, expect a let loose performance by We Are Scientists who go onstage around 9pm. If you're into The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Green Day, or Bloc Party, this show is definitely in your ballpark. - A. Rodriguez Pre-concert CD recommendation: With Love and Squalor, featuring "Inaction", "Lousy Reputation", "The Great Escape" and "What's the Word". The Stills w/ Land of Talk Sunday, October 8 - 9pm The Showbox- $15 / www.ticketswest.com It's not easy dishing up a second record, one that lives up to the high expectations of fans and critics following a stellar debut and a swirl of sudden attention. But if you're The Stills, you take these things with a grain of salt, and then you tear it all up and start over from the ground up. Not exactly the easiest career path for a budding set of alt rock darlings, but certainly an earnest one. The Stills, now a five piece, hail from Montreal but plunged themselves head first into the NYC music scene at a very significant time. In 2002, bands such as Interpol, The Strokes, The Killers, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were blazing a path on the indie charts. Suddenly name-dropping Joy Division, Lou Reed, and Echo & The Bunnymen was the de rigueur interview sound bite. A full-on 80s revival was kicking in. The Stills, having spent a summer couch-surfing in New York with friends and touring with bands such as these, quietly put a record out called Logic Will Break Your Heart (Vice Records). They weren't as flashy or as brazen as the rest of the pack, but a shimmering song with a popping disco bass line called "Still In Love Song" slowly found it's way into the consciousness of many dedicated music fans. This song did stand out; it was sexy and simmering and was a remix cut of choice for alternative dance nights and hipsters everywhere. With dreamy lyrics such as "we were kissers, we were lovers, we were holders of hands we were&" The Stills had managed to sneak a memorable song into a flood of conformity. Not to mention an album full of gems like this, complete with gender-obscured lyrics and brooding romanticism. When faced with a follow up, the band did something almost unheard of. They sat down and thought long and hard about the fickle hype accompanying being a part of the New York scene, and wondered if they would be able to shake off such associations when the 80s revival inevitably fell out of fashion. With this in mind and the departure of guitarist Greg Paquet prompting some lineup changes, drummer Dave Hamelin came forward to play guitar and sing alongside the smooth vocals of Tim Fletcher, and the new version of The Stills started to write. What came out of these sessions was a return to simplicity, a more straightforward style devoid of effects and ironic references; a more mature and well-crafted rock approach. In fact, the second record, aptly titled Without Feathers, is both an acknowledgement of the stripped-down sound, and a reference to shedding the hype of the last record (the cover art was a gorgeous photo of feathers suspended in air). The Stills have substance, but have traded the cleverness for intelligence and the feathers for a warm approachability. Seattle fans have a chance to hear how the new songs measure up when The Stills hit The Showbox Sunday night with special guests Land Of Talk. - J. Browning Pre-concert CD recommendations: "Oh Shoplifter" from Without Feathers and "Love and Death" from Logic Will Break Your Heart. |
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International Readers |
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 It's new! and live from Bumbershoot! |
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working for the freedom to
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copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2006