We Are scientists continued the tour promotion of their eighth highly-rated album ‘Lobes’.
The dream pop quartet opened the show Bleach Lab and was a classy support act, with a generous turnout from the WAS fanbase. One to watch for sure!
The Southampton crowd lapped up the 80’s pre-show music, with bangers from ABC, Simple Minds and The Human League, creating the first sing-along of the evening. We Are Scientists or WAS as their fans call them bound onto the stage looking almost identical to how they looked when I last saw them eight years previous. Chris Cain rocking the moustache and Keith Murray with his silver flopping fringe. Drummer Keith Carne looking much like a doppelganger Paul Rudd circa Anchorman.
The three-piece opened with recent single ‘Lucky Just to be Here’ which showcased their new wave vibe to their latest album. They held back on the usual stage banter that at times overshadowed some of their music, though Cain did have a few zingers including stating that Southampton is the place to “check in and bliss out and then die,” ….but we should all be having a good time, like a pre-pandemic good time. And the Engine Rooms crowd certainly did that, in a more restrained foot tapping kinda way, than any hot mosh pit, crowd surfing action. They have still struggled to deliver an album that matches their debut, and at their gigs it always seems that the biggest cheers are for tracks from ‘With Love & Squalor’.
The band delivered a smart set list balancing most of their best singles and the best tracks from ‘Lobes’. Other notable highlights were ‘Contact High’, ‘ Rules Don’t Stop Me’, and ‘ You’ve Lost your Shit’ including a knee slide from Murray and a nice segue into ‘Inaction’. If only they had a fourth member to add the much-needed acoustic guitar element! The twenty song set whizzed by ending with their classic ‘After Hours’, before returning for an encore including ‘ Dinosaurs’ with drum solo, ‘The Scene is Dead’ and ‘Less From You’.
We Are Scientists are creating some of their finest music for years and over the five times I’ve seen them they always play like a band who adore playing live and have very well-priced merchandise.
