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We Are Scientists

It might take an alchemist to morph lead into gold, but these Scientists can mix punk, funk, and a lil’ bit of disco to yield a shiny, metallic bar of infectious, genre-bending rock. On their debut album With Love and Squalor, We Are Scientists create not one, but 12 such golden songs filled with butt-shaking geek rock.

We Are Scientists come by their geekiness honestly: The trio graduated from prestigious Pomona College in California, and their debut album takes its title from a J.D. Salinger short story. Singer/guitarist Keith Murray, bassist Chris Cain, and drummer Michael Tapper also embrace geek chic to the hilt: At times, the trio can be seen cloaking concave chests with sweater vests and framing goofy grins with ironic mustaches.

With Love and Squalor starts out with “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” a fist-pumping anthem with staticky guitars and Murray’s whiny yet polished vocals that sound quite a bit like Hot Hot Heat’s Steve Bays. Murray’s sexy and deadly catchy refrain — “My body is your body / I won’t tell anybody / If you want to use my body / Go for it, yeah” — encourages lusty ladies to take advantage of these geek gods all over the place.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but at least it gets you a touring gig. We Are Scientists just finished up a North American tour opening for Hot Hot Heat, and they will take the stage as headliners in Europe starting on November 28. With Love and Squalor is out January 10 in the U.S. on Virgin.

We Are Scientists tour dates:

11/28, London, UK (King’s College) 11/29, Manchester, UK (Manchester Academy 2)11/30, Glasgow, UK (King Tut’s)12/1, Birmingham, UK (Flapper & Firkin)12/2, Bologna, Italy (Estragon)12/3, Milan, Italy (Transilvania)12/4, Rome, Italy (Circolo Degli Artisti)12/6, Paris, France (Nouveau Casino)12/8, Heidelberg, Germany (Karlstorbahnof)12/9, Berlin, Germany (Rosis)12/10, Munich, Germany (Atomic Cafe)12/11, Eindhoven, Germany (Effenaar)12/12, Brussels, Belgium (Botanique)12/13, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Paradiso)

We Are Scientists official site