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.
Murray: The Wolf’s Hour is the official book of We Are Scientists. It’s violent, tawdry and action packed, just the way we like them. The child of Russian nobility, young Mikhail Galatinov barely survives the Bolshevik Revolution, escaping into the woods outside of St. Petersburg to be raised by wolves—werewolves, that is. Years later, Michael, as he’s now known, is a top operative in Allied Intelligence during WWII and is known for undermining Nazi enterprises via his cunning, his strength and his willingness to gnaw on the innards of Axis agents with his razor-sharp canine teeth. As masterful a lover as he is a spy, he is the only literary character I’ve ever witnessed enjoy sex as both man and wolf. Maybe that means I don’t spend enough of my time reading.
Video after the jump.
