After recently celebrating the anniversary of their debut album, With Love & Squalor, with a comprehensive and successful tour of the states before the pandemic hit, We Are Scientists have returned with their seventh studio album. Huffy sounds like a band refreshed, re-focused, and re-energized for the future that lays in front of them. Filled with lush pop hooks and brilliant harmonies, We Are Scientists are doing their best to use this momentum to continue to stick around in the limelight. If this band can capitalize on this great-sounding record, it may be time for more of us to put our trust back into scientists.
The great-sounding lead single, “Contact High” shows off the improved songwriting chops from Brooklyn, New York’s finest dance rock band. We Are Scientists are able to captivate the imagination of their lofty goals for their music with lightning fast arrangements, pop hooks shining with brilliance, and great guitar work to further round out the sound they were going for on Huffy. The other recently released single, “Handshake Agreement” has a nice guitar groove and bounce to it, similar to other dance rock bands like Hot Hot Heat, Franz Ferdinand, and Foster the People.
The middle of the record features some quirky, yet enjoyable songs like “I Cut My Own Hair,” that sounds like something DEVO would have written in this era, while “Just Education” brings out the best in We Are Scientists with a sprawling track about trusting the source of the information you’re seeking. In the first verse after the chorus they explain, “Consider your source before you make a firm decision / Man, it could be worse / So, maybe now I’ve learned my lesson.” This philosophy could be applied to multiple situations, but their hearts are in the right place throughout this nice sounding record.
Other songs that peaked my interest in the revival of We Are Scientists are the brazen guitar-laced “Fault Lines,” that rocks with a swagger not normally seen from this band, and “Pandemonium” is an example of the band taking their unique brand of dance worthy pop rock into the heavens with a brilliant build up to an ultra-catchy chorus.
By the time you reach the exciting conclusion of “Behavior Unbecoming,” you’re wondering where why this band doesn’t get enough credit for their great mix of pop, rock, and overall likability in their music. While I’m not sure how much I’ll come back to this album, it is surely one of those records I enjoyed from start to finish and will look fondly back on. If you’re in need of a thrilling pick-me-up, We Are Scientists would love to introduce you to what they made with Huffy.