SPARE PARTS: 1 = CD = We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery

 

THE STORY

Ok, so I bought Brain Thrust Mastery by indie rock band We Are Scientists in the summer of 2008 from the now defunct book shop Borders, in Oxford.  I'd loved their previous album, With Love And Squalor, as it had sound tracked my carefree heady 18 year old days before university. So, naturally I thought that i'd enjoy their next offering.

Unfortunately, my head was in a bit of a girl related mess at the time, so I neglected the album and only gave it one listen, and then swiftly cast it aside, like so many others. There's some kind of poetry or irony in there somewhere, but I'll probably come to that later.

LIKES

When I first listened to this album 5 years ago, only a few tracks stood out, such as 'Chick Lit' with its Daft Punk 'Robot Rockesque' rhythmic hook, as well as second track 'Lets See It'. Everything else tended to fade into the background and didn't seem to add value.
However, this album is definitely a 'grower'. Upon further listens, the remaining tracks on the album really come to life and have identity.
For example, I seemed to miss the driving melodic indie rock brilliance of 'After Hours, which is arguably the most modest yet anthemic track in this collection.  Similar to Spinto Band's 'Oh Mandy' I found. Another track that leaps out and hits the listener in the face is the albums midpoint, 'Tonight', which harks back to familiar We Are Scientists territory, with its busy drums and bass, and crunching guitars, laced with catchy vocals.
One of my favourites is the album's closer, 'That's What Counts', which somehow stands separate from the others in the collection. Perhaps because it appears to have more room to breathe than the preceding tracks do and kind of turns from the otherwise awkward tone and leaves on an optimistic note.


DISLIKES

I do think that this album is a step in the right direction for the band, but that does have its potential drawbacks also.
Like with other indie rock bands of their ilk, We Are Scientists tend to lend themselves more to the energetic indie clubness of their earlier work, and tend to that much better, in my opinion. In some cases on Brain Thrust Mastery, it feels as though the band are trying to hard to show that they aren't just the indie fop one trick ponies.  But that doesn't necessarily fly if the sound doesn't suit the band (I'm looking at you Arctic Monkeys!).
For example, the band sound physically uncomfortable during the gentle lullaby of 'Spoken For', which is a lovely song, but simply lacks conviction.  This can also be heard in 'Impatience', where the song tends to lumber on, trying to be something that it isn't, but doesn't quite get there.  I'd like to point out that this isn't a criticism, as these are actually good tracks.  Its just that they simply don't sit well in this collection, which weakens it slightly

OVERVIEW

Brain Trust Mastery had a lot to contend with following the bands previous album, and the success it received.  However, I believe that it definitely holds its own, in the sense that it is a more honest effort and holds a more mature sound throughout, A great example of where this is clearly evident is 'ghouls', the albums opener. 
In this gradual brood build of grinding guitars and driving bass and drums, the lyrics "We all recognise that I'm the problem here" glide along, which evidently sets the scene beautifully for the resulting album. By this I mean the impending feeling of an individual preparing to own up to an array of life mistakes and perhaps an attempt at redemption.  But then again, this is just We Are Scientists way of showing how much they have grown as a band since With Love And Squalor, and exactly what they can achieve.
In any case the albums proves a triumph and certainly has more high points than low. In fact one way of viewing this album is simply to enjoy it and not to worry about the finer points (something I should certainly adhere to). The band themselves say it best in 'That's What Counts' when singing "We shouldn't think about last night, nobody's proud of what they've done. Oh, let's not argue about what's right, let's just agree that it was fun, fun!"

VERDICT        KEEP