For an indie-rock band, We Are Scientists have long been remarkably danceable. While Keith Murray (QRO interview) may sing about getting too drunk at parties & impossible girls, it’s in a catchy way, not downbeat. Even their more driving or reaching pieces are accessible on the dance floor. The band goes even more in this direction, particularly with synths, on Megaplex.
From the shiny ‘girl at a party’ opener “One In, One Out”, this is definitely We Are Scientists, and there are their other hallmarks, such as the bigger “Notes In a Bottle” & “No Wait At Five Leaves” and the more grinding “Your Light Has Changed” & “Now Or Never”. But what is most notably new is greater usage of synthesizers (particularly from a trio without a regular keys player), even going full-on disco-dance with “Not Another Word” and closer “Properties of Perception”.
We Are Scientists aren’t the first indie-rock act to get more synths & more dance, and they won’t be the last. But unlike many, it makes sense for them, and feels more organic.
