<p><span><span>- The Scientists are releasing their first album in thirty-four years. That alone is music to the ears of many a fan of underground Australian rock n roll.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The current lineup of the band has been gigging sporadically since 2004, delighting audiences across the country and around the world, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find out that a new album was in the works.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Songwriting duties have this time been shared amongst band members instead of resting on the shoulders of front man <strong>Kim Salmon</strong>, so although the album has the distinct sound of The Scientists, it also has some new and different sounds: horns and strings alongside disjointed drums and the fuzziest of guitars.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The opening track <em>Outsider</em> is a dark and distorted reminder of the Australian underground music scene that had most discerning listeners enthralled during the early '80s, and the following tracks <em>Make it Go Away</em> reminds this particular listener of her time as a teenage fringe dweller, tinged with angst that only teenagers or artists seem to understand fully. <em>Naysayer</em> is a demented waltz with dark, monotone lyrics, kicking against anyone who wants to try and tell the band what to do!</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Safe</em> has a dig at venue security guards with a disjointed groove that will have the listener clapping along and singing the chorus, and <em>Seventeen</em> is almost poppy, with a groove that is evident in many of Kim Salmon’s bands – <strong>The Surrealists</strong> springs to mind. <em>The Science of Suave</em> has an almost dance-y urgency that cuts loose with soaring distortion and Salmon wailing and yelping over racing riffs.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Magic Pants</em> and <em>Moth Eaten Velvet</em> will have anyone of the Swampie persuasion digging through their treasured old threads and pointy boots, remembering the days of dark clubs and heavy black eye makeup. The first single from the album <em>I Wasn’t Good at Picking Friends</em> is reminiscent of <strong>Bowie</strong>’s <em>Boys Keep Swinging</em> or <strong>Iggy Pop</strong>’s <em>Funtime</em>.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Dissonance</em> and <em>Outer Space Boogie</em> shock the listener back to the present with their solid drums and out of control distorted guitars and make you wonder why this band ever stopped recording together in the first place, whilst being glad they decided to do it again. Out now on <strong>In The Red</strong> Records, be sure to snap up a copy. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Judy Jetson.</span></span></p>
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