WE ARE SCIENTISTS PRESUME WE'RE ALL OKAY AT ZEBULON IN LA
All words and photos by Brian Diaz
On Saturday night New York City’s We Are Scientists graced the stage at a Frogtown favorite neighborhood venue, Zebulon Cafe Concert, in Los Angeles. The space is both intimate enough to be right on top of the band - pointing your finger, singing along, while getting a sweat on - and large enough to spread out and hang back by the bar, or on one of the bleacher type risers in the back, looking out over the crowd.
It's been a long while since We Are Scientists had been in town bringing their mix of danceable-indie-rock-meets-post-punk, and opening song "You've Lost Your Shit" from their 2021 album Huffy addressed the elephant in the room. When singer/guitarist Keith Murray belts out "Let's presume we're all okay here..." in the pre-chorus, it couldn't be a more fitting sentiment for the last two concert-less years. As soon as the song fully kicks in the entire room started dancing, waving their hands in the air. Launching non-stop next into “Inaction” off of their first official release 2006’s With Love and Squalor, and then “Buckle” from 2016’s Helter Seltzer the entire night was a rollercoaster of We Are Scientists’ nearly 20 year stretch of recorded music. Songs were punctuated by the always witty on-stage banter between Murray and bassist Chris Cain in between sips of Tecate, poking fun at Los Angeles, poking fun at each other, and even a break for tequila shots from an old friend and roadie. Even with their music edging on that semi-chaotic dance-punk vibe drummer Keith Carne kept it steady and solid, providing the backbone for keeping it energetic, fun, and bouncy.
The set spanned their entire discography included newer songs like “I Cut My Own Hair”, “Bought Myself A Grave” and the opener, “You’ve Lost...”, and older favorites like “The Great Escape”, “The Scene Is Dead”, and closer “Nice Guys” from 2010’s Barbara. By the end of the night they had confirmed that, yes, we are indeed all okay here.