Huffy
Masterswan, 2022
8/10
I’ve actually never listened to We Are Scientists before, which might seem odd considering I’m a huge Cap’n Jazz fan (who I’ve only recently come to find out they didn’t lift their name from).
Huffy, the 7th album from Keith Murray and Chris Cain, i.e. We Are Scientists, certainly seems made for the summer, with its radiant melodies, sappy love songs and body moving tunes that you really can’t not adore.
“You Lost Your Shit” gets the listen off to an energetic start, where thumping drums, charged, buzzing guitars and smooth vocals meet at a place where indie-rock and garage-rock intersect, and “Contact High” follows with swirling melodies that emit both busy and calmer moments of animated modern rock.
Packed in the middle is the the pop-friendly and dance floor ready “Just Education”, as well as the cultured and breezy demeanor of “Sentimental Education”, where the upbeat flavor is as infectious as it is memorable.
Further still, “Bought Myself A Grave” recruits acoustic guitar to the folky-pop ideas that surround the dreamy harmonies, and “Behavior Unbecoming” exits the listen with traces of post-punk (The Cure!) amid the bouncy bass, crisp drumming and skilled singing.
A record that combines punk, indie, disco and pop, if the 6 albums before this one are just as well done, I’m going to have to devote further time to We Are Scientists’ back catalog. But not after I listen to Huffy a dozen more times.
Travels well with: Maximo Park- The National Health; The Vaccines- Back In Love City