The ‘80s-inspired sounds of bands like Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, or Rock Kills Kid are being resurrected and repackaged yet again by the band We Are Scientists on their sophomore album Brain Thrust Mastery, a record whose peaks and valleys are much more pronounced than those on most records of late. The good songs are really good, which only leaves the bad songs to be, well, really bad.
Perhaps starting an album out by repeating the words, “we all recognize / that I’m / the problem here” is an ominous precursor for things to come. Brain Thrust Mastery starts off with these lyrics in the song “Ghouls,” a surprisingly intriguing song considering the repetition. The next two songs, “Let’s See It” and their current single “After Hours” are really good songs with undeniably catchy hooks. Track 4, a song that could very easily be from one of The Thompson Twins’ recording sessions, is also a decently catchy and fun song. The problem—and this might be where those aforementioned lyrics come in—is that that’s where the fun starts to taper off, which is quite unfortunate when you’re only 3 songs into an eleven-track album. This is what I call being frontloaded, meaning all the good songs are in the beginning, leaving the listener to trudge their way through the remainder of the CD after already being given the good stuff. It’s an incredibly frustrating phenomenon, especially when the first few songs prompts you to brag to your friends about this great new album, only to find out you’ve spoken too soon. The final exception to this is the album closer, “That’s What Counts,” which is yet another example of the Scientist’s attempts at time travel through music, but a good example nonetheless—complete with a little saxophone thrown into the mix.
We Are Scientists’ Brain Thrust Mastery exhibits the band’s ability to deliver songs in the same vein as those of some of the biggest names in the indie scene. Unfortunately, it also shows that those other bands know how to do a better job at it.
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