"There
was a squirrel named Cousins who would enter people's houses through the
open windows and steal chocolate. He thought this was pretty smart and
grew arrogant about his abilities, feeling that really no chocolate in the
neighbourhood was safe from him should he choose to compromise it. Well,
the Bible tells us that pride cometh before the fall, but at least in this
case the Bible's wrong. That squirrel Cousins went on stealing chocolate
the rest of his days, which were long and sweet indeed."
I'm with Chris Cain, bass player and backing vocalist of the States'
latest indie export We Are Scientists. I've asked him about a
show they played last March in Los Angeles, riddled with the most insane
of technical problems resulting in the band having to play their opening
number twice. "Oh, it's not that interesting a story,"
says Chris, before launching into such squirrel-related antics. It's
going to be an interesting interview.
Musically, We Are Scientists lie somewhere in
between Hot Hot Heat and Razorlight, to coin the first comparisons that
come to mind. Hot Hot Heat is one that's been suggested by many,
though. "Their first album was on heavy rotation when we wrote
those songs that sound just like This Town and Bandages,"
jokes Chris. He's clearly a man with a sense of humour. "Not
really sure we have songs that sound just like This Town and
Bandages. We may, and that would be fine; those are great songs. Maybe
we're too close to our music to tell. But yeah, we really like Hot Hot
Heat, though we haven't consciously modelled our music after theirs."
Reviewed on page 16, new single Nobody Move,
Nobody Get Hurt is an energetic, catchy dance-worthy pop tune, certain
to get a few heads nodding and feet tapping. It seems to be
something quite important to We Are Scientists that people can enjoy a bit
of a flail to their tunes. Chris corrects me slightly.
"More |
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than anything it's playing
music that people get caught up in and have an emotional reaction
to. A lot of our stuff right now is of a type that leads those
caught up in it to dance. We don't need to be playing danceable
songs, though, no. Songs that made people weak in the knees would be
fine, too. Songs that made people express their excitement by
trying to do backflips would be unsafe, but probably considered a
big success."
The band aren't expecting too many
backflips in the UK, however, as they prepare for an upcoming
tour. "We expect there to be fewer people at the shows
and in general less enthusiasm for the band," Chris tells
me. "The fact is that the UK has heard our stuff and is
doubtless growing tired of it by now. We plan to milk the last
dozen or so ticket sales out of your country and then hang it
up." With
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