The seventh studio album from indie rock outfit
We Are Scientists
, 2021's infectious
Huffy
finds them bucking their veteran status with a handful of nervy anthems that recapture the classic post-punk and power pop energy of their best work. Produced by the band with mixing by
Claudius Mittendorfer
, the album follows 2018's
Megaplex
and once again features the combined skills of lead singer/guitarist
Keith Murray
, bassist
Chris Cain
, and drummer
Keith Carne
.
also arrives on the heels of the group helming its own podcast, which they launched while in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Titled Dumpster Dive, the podcast worked as a way for the band to communicate with fans and associates while also analyzing and listening to their past work. The process seems to have paid off.
is an album of whip-smart songs, rife with buzzy guitar riffs and driving beats. All of this kinetic riffage nicely frames
Murray
's often wry and humorous lyrics, as on the cheeky quarantine anthem "I Cut My Own Hair." Equally potent moments pop up throughout the album, as on the sugar rush-inducing "Contact High," the swaggering, falsetto-tinged rocker "Fault Lines," and the buoyant, new wave Tropicalia of "Sentimental Education." Maybe it was the chance to revisit their music and drill down into what made their best songs work, or perhaps it was quarantine forcing them to find new avenues of creativity, but either way,
found a way to boil down their sound to its most essential and thrilling elements on
. ~ Matt Collar