Review -- We Are Scientists' Brain Thrust Mastery

So first of all, welcome to my new blog. The idea is that I'll be posting all the music related stuff that doesn't fit on the Haus Hlog: reviews, thought on the industry, my own experiences, etc. My best intentions will be to update twice a week, definitely on Fridays and once some other time during the week. Right now, I am the only reader. Let's see how long that lasts!


Ask anyone I hung out with last summer -- all I ever wanted to listen to was We Are Scientists' With Love and Squalor. I barely missed them on two tour stops (once I didn't find out until after the show, the other I couldn't find anyone to go with me to Toronto), and I'm feeling like I might not get that opportunity back. Obviously WAS will come back to TO at some point, but I doubt I'll go see them after Brain Thrust Mastery.

Yes, I understand the easiest thing in the world is to pan a sophomore album. There's less time to write it, more pressure to have it do well, and it's hard to keep from playing it safe; conversely, you can't go too far from what worked (and yes, I know WAS had a disc or two before Squalor, but that was their first LP).

At some point before Mastery was recorded, drummer Michael Tapper left the Scientists to pursue "other things". There are a lot of bands that could get by with any drummer at the helm (most of my bands can say this), but We Are Scientists is not one of them. Tapper's frantic, focused, outside-the-box drumming was an essential equal third in the attack and edge of Squalor, and it's extremely noticeable by its absence. Don't get me wrong, session drummer Garrett Ray is more than competent, but he's not a part of the songwriting process and is limited at how far he can go. His beats and fills are very predictable and have nothing resembling the percussive craftsmanship that Tapper applied to each song.

Granted, there's not a lot of room to be creative when everything slows down to mid-tempo toe-tapping rock. For the most part, Squalor was too fast to tap your foot to; you had to dance. Everything here is just plodding by comparison. No jittery guitar, no teeth-gritting vocals, no invincibly pounding bass lines. Melodically, everything sounds very poppy and hooky, which is not a crime, but is somewhat disappointing.

The production is tough to swallow. There were very few studio add-ons on Squalor, barring the odd keyboard or tambourine. Mastery is awash in synths, strings, saxophones, cymbal washes, and layered guitar parts. No surprise, considering Ariel Rechtshaid (who me and Wally remember as the lead singer/keyboard wizard of 90's ska underground sensations the Hippos) pushed the sliders on this disc. I loved the Hippos back then, even when they were rocking ridiculously 80's synth pop on their last album, Heads Are Gonna Roll . I'm not at all sure who thought marrying those sounds to WAS was a good idea.

If I was still writing reviews for free CDs and to see my name in newsprint professionally, I would have to talk about the individual songs at some point. Thankfully (for me, not so much for you) I am my blog's editor, so I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. And I don't want to try and find the defining characteristics of what amounts to eleven similar anthills in a row. If I had to pick a song to recommend, I'd pick "Chick Lit" as it comes closest to the intensity and grand sense of personal failure that characterized WAS when I wanted to make sure everyone I knew had heard them.

Downer way to start the blog (mlog?), I know. Sorry. I still want to review Tokyo Police Club's sophomore disc, because I love it a lot. If I can find a store in town that's carrying it I'll also cover Will Currie and the Country French's A Great Stage. I've also got a lot of shows coming up and some backlogged stories about shows I've already had this year.

If you want to catch me live, I'm playing at the Freeway Cafe in Hamilton this Wednesday (June 4) with the Runaway. Thanks for stopping in!