Last year saw the demise of one of Scotland’s best- loved noise pop collectives, Dananananaykroyd, leaving a gaping hole for the country’s schizophrenic indie scene. Strangely, one of the acts that might have filled that gap had gone to ground until very recently. It’s been four years since the debut record from We Are The Physics and for reasons best known to them, it has been a slow and painstaking process completing their follow- up, which finally sees the light of day in just two weeks. And it certainly has made its mark, putting itself as a contender for the indie album of 2012.
“Your Friend, The Atom” sparks off a retrospective train and is almost a celebration of the best parts of the mid -2000s: “Applied Robotics” could be the brilliant love child of The Futureheads and We Are Scientists thrown into one poppy but frantic number. The handclapping “Napoleon Loves Josephine” is a worthy shout, with vocals aping Test Icicles, the much missed and not-forgotten heroes of proto nu rave (apologies for this ridiculous genre classification!).
But it’s not just the music that harks back to this era. There are some ridiculous song titles to be found in the same vein as Arctic Monkeys and Panic At The Disco’s debut records. You’d be hard pressed to find a better title all year than “There Is No Cure For The Common Cold So Don’t Expect A Cure For Cancer”. Better still, it makes for a great listen. By the time we get to “Goran Ivanisevic” (presumably a tribute to the former Croatian tennis player), is there anyone who wouldn’t be uplifted just a soupcon by this senseless joyous outpouring? This is pop with a twist, not fearing to explore less-trodden paths and mix things up along the way.. Another couple of highlights are to be found in the form of “Dildonics” and “All My Friends Are JPEGs”, with guitars that cause the most blissful of headaches – an unlikely but highly recommended state.
In a climate where more “conservative” indie acts such as The Vaccines and Mumford And Sons now sit high in terms of shifting units, it is always important to have artists like We Are The Physics rip up the rulebook and essentially just have a bit of enjoyment for once, instead of countless dullards emulating a Morrisey-esque stance of earnest street credibility. Go forth and lap up this fine long-overdue opus.
[Rating:4]
