We Are Scientists – Reinforced Love and Splendour @Electric Bristol – 10/10/26

I’m not big into nostalgia, and to be honest We Are Scientists’ With Love and Squalor has been on heavy rotation in my life throughout the 20 years since its release. Actually, more and more so as the years have gone by – this may have been to do with the split EP with one of my all-time favourites, Art Brut, reigniting a spark that made me gorge away at their back catalogue. There’s no nostalgia for the WAS-merch-clad fans in the front rows; this is their favourite band just taking them back in time a little.

In fact, WAS open with a career-spanning, energetic four-song guided tour of their world, with an exciting start. Such a great way to begin, with more bangers in their pockets but displaying their prowess for those who turned up just for With Love and Squalor. You’ve Lost Your Shit is a snappy, bounce-infused almost pop-punk opener. WAS do catchy pop/rock melodies that have me singing like I know the words but, more importantly, moving limbs and bringing joy.

As frontman Keith Murray puts it, tongue-in-cheek – these songs all inform that album anyway – before launching into Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt. If ever an album opened with a statement of intent, then this is it. It’s an indie heavyweight bulldozer that smashes the senses and brings a collective excited cheer. It’s the potent instant dopamine high I needed as it cuts through the set and gets even more cheers all round.

Keith’s voice has been held in a time capsule: crystal clear, with the life and bite still there in singing a song he’s played a lot. I can see breaks for smiles in between words as the effect of a crowd chanting his lyrics back at him clearly gets to him.

The album is played in order and is, quite frankly, a barrage of hit after hit after hit. All of the album tracks could’ve well been singles, each song anthemic and athletically performed. The Great Escape has always struck me as an amazing song to have so deep into an album. The opening riff and lyrics are ingrained deep in my psyche and spill from my brain as Keith swings his guitar around and moves his mic stand centrally. I am in my element. I’m sure he winked at me.

Textbook has now shot up in my estimations after this live performance – I loved seeing Keith running around the crowd, handing the mic to the crowd to scream the refrain “Having all your questions answered isn’t gonna help at all!!” repeatedly, then jumping up on a banister to the adoration of the masses. (See pic.) This line is still shooting around my brain now. The album is performed to perfection and completion. Indie rock ’n’ roll completed? I’d like to think that anyone who’s here and is just discovering this album thinks this is the best album ever written and wants to delve deeper into the WAS back catalogue.

One of the many highlights of the set is when a fan calls out for Ghouls, and very impressively the band launch into it without even thinking – given they have eight albums, this is seriously impressive, with singer Keith equally impressed!

The set progresses to span their whole career, with Buckle, a song recently re-released and re-imagined with a piano version (worth a listen). An instant earworm and sits up there with anything from their debut.

The encore sees yet more beer drinking, lying down, and the band laying in front of drummer Keith Carne as he slays an impressive, extensive drum solo to frenzied adulation. An ecstatic fan next to me screams “DINOSAUR!” and the band launch into a punk jam version without thinking – that’s how to treat your fans.

“This is the last night of our tour, so we had to end it in Bristol!!” Keith exclaims as the epic After Hours ends a night that has reinforced my love for a band that are at the top of their game. Being close to them performing was a pleasure, and not for the first time there were points in the set where I got that feeling where you can’t believe how good something is and how tight the band are, both musically and emotionally. It’s no wonder they have so many committed fans. I still have Textbook running through my head and this makes me happy.