We Are Scientists have long endured a strained relationship with subtlety. Rumbling forward with all the delicacy of howitzer, the New York group's seventh album Megaplex is a big, fat, outrageous indie-pop record.
The vocal lines are corny and the lyrics can be pretty dumb (“Your heart is a weapon” or “I fall in love at least once every night”).
Silly as the project is, there’s something undeniably enjoyable about the duo’s outrageous sonic adventures. This is a party record, and, like most good parties, there’s a surface-level gratification here that makes the messy side of things easy to ignore.
Take opener One In, One Out, an over-the-top electro-pop banger about being stunned into a stupor by a cutie. The song's synths and guitars go together about as gracefully as two tongues sloppily caressing – and they're just as much fun. The album's massive choruses are bellowed out by singer Keith Murray throughout; there's Notes in a Bottle, for example, which features a cheesy guitar solo to go with its huge hook. Elsewhere, the melodic riffs of Not Another Word and Properties of Perception transports We Are Scientists into late-1980s Madchester, adding an interesting ripple to the record. Most important is the pair's tangible enthusiasm. Seven albums in and they're having the time of their lives.
