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From The Desk Of We Are Scientists’ Keith Murray: David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest”

No one can call Brooklyn-based rockers We Are Scientists one-dimensional. The band has engaged in extracurricular activities ranging from creating a comedic TV series to self-improvement seminars. However, singer/guitarist Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain have returned to their day job to release fourth album Barbara (PIAS/Masterswan). WAS, who were without a drummer since the 2007 departure of Michael Tapper, have added former Razorlight skinsman Andy Burrows to the lineup, and Barbara features a more eclectic sound, with the often-brash group experimenting with slower tempos and fuller arrangements. Lead single “Rules Don’t Stop” is vintage Scientists, though; it’s a nervy power-pop song driven by a thumping bass line. The single debuted at number 14 on the U.K. indie charts, and it’s already an anthem for mustachioed hipsters everywhere. Murray is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.

DavidFosterWallace

Murray: My favorite book ever, Infinite Jest is one that a lot of people buy but few ever consume in its entirety. Despite the fact that it’s something like 1,300 pages long (with 300-odd pages of footnotes) and concerns itself with topics like tennis, pharmacology, fictitious cinematic catalogues, addiction, psychotropics and the invention of childish games surrounding the politics and physics behind nuclear holocaust, this novel is hilariously, compulsively readable. Wallace can be considered nothing less than a heavyweight novelist; reading his prose is like watching a gymnast perform her routine while riding a horse, singing tunes from Harry Nilsson’s catalogue, shooting apples off of children’s heads with arrows and writing the script for the next episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. He’s incredible.

Video after the jump.