Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
We Are Scientists, the Brooklyn-based pop rock troupe have returned with their fifth album, ‘Helter Seltzer’, released June 3rd via 100% Records (includes limited edition teal-colored vinyl). The album is also available now via iTunes
For ‘Helter Seltzer’ We Are Scientists asked their ex-keyboard player Max Hart to produce. Max had just finished a three-year stint as the keyboardist for international super-mega-person Katy Perry, choosing as his final gig Ms. Perry’s performance at the 2015 Super Bowl. Max rented a studio space in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood, outfitting it with gear he had accumulated over a decade of obsessive internet shopping. In early March, the team got to work and a direction quickly emerged – they would use the tones and trickery of radio pop and Max’s inside-out familiarity with hits like ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Firework’ and ‘Dark Horse’ to add a sweet sheen to the new crop of distinctively We Are Scientists songs. The recordings were shipped to mixer Chris Coady at Sunset Sound in L.A. who has quietly emerged in recent years as one of the finest mixers of glossy indie pop, with credits that include Future Islands, Beach House, and !!!. Finally, the music was passed through the deluxe mastering machine that are the ears of Greg Calbi (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Noel Gallagher, Perfume Genius) to add a coat of heft and sparkle, and in January of 2016, nearly a year after construction began, the album was pronounced complete.
“We’ve always made overtures toward being a pop band, but we’ve generally had the inclination to obscure those pop leanings in grit and chaos — to screw them up with fuzzed-out tones and raucous performances,” says guitarist and vocalist Keith Murray. “It’s made us really think about what our musical genre is. We’re not punk — we’re too interested in making our songs as pretty as possible. We’re not straight-up rock — our tastes are too left-of-center. We’re not indie-rock — our heads aren’t far enough up our own butts. So finally, after putting as much time into thinking about it as we’re apt to — about ten minutes, over beers — we decided that our genre is ‘Helter Seltzer.'”
“Declaring a new genre is obviously douchey as hell, though, and impossible to deliver with a straight face,” adds bassist Chris Cain, “so we did the noble thing and just made ‘Helter Seltzer’ the album title. It’s especially apt for us these days, though. The songs here are more effervescent than we’ve ever managed to deliver, but they’ve still maintained a measure of that ‘Helter Skelter’ element — no matter how fizzy and refreshing the tunes are, they’ve always got a bit of that seamy, scuzzy, ‘cult on Spahn Ranch’ vibe. We therefore consider this album, as a vessel of both sweet pop tunes and seltzer outreach,” concludes Chris. “To be a work of undisguised philanthropy on our part.”
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of ‘With Love And Squalor’, the band performed the classic album in its entirety at the May 11th Irving Plaza show in NYC and will do so again in July at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.
LIVE SHOWS:
May 17th – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5
May 18th – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
May 19th – Houston, TX – The Raven Tower
May 20th – Austin, TX – Barracuda
May 21st – Fort Worth, TX – Lola’s
May 23rd – Nashville, TN – Exit In
May 24th – Asheville, NC – Tiger Mountain
May 25th – Raleigh, NC – Kings
July 8th – Spokane, WA – The Bartlett
July 9th – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
July 10th – Vancouver, BC – Cobalt
July 11th – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
July 13th – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
July 14th – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
July 15th – San Diego, CA – Voodoo Room-House Of Blues
July 16th – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre ***
July 17th – Las Vegas, NV – Bunk House
*** celebrating 10th anniversary of ‘With Love And Squalor’
