Artist

We Are Scientists

US indie rock band

Berkeley, United States • Formed 2000

We Are Scientists is a music group from Berkeley, United States, active since 2000. Their discography on Gatefold includes 17 records.

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Albums tracked

In collections

2000

Since

Biography

We Are Scientists is an American indie rock band featuring Keith Murray (guitar and lead vocals), Chris Cain (bass guitar and backing vocals), Max Hart (keys and guitar) and Andy Burrows (drums). Co-founder Michael Tapper (drums and backing vocals) left the band in 2007 and is currently a member of the bands Bishop Allen and Fool's Gold. They formed in 2000 in Claremont, California, United States. Their name was inspired by an awkward conversation with a U-Haul employee who was inspecting a van that the band had rented.

The Arc of We Are Scientists

The pivots — what forced We Are Scientists to reinvent.

The Buller Gloss
Hooking up with producer Ed Buller for their major label debut changed the trajectory from basement lo-fi to stadium-sized compression. Tapper’s precise, disco-punk drumming provided a rigid backbone for Murray’s telecaster stabs, creating a sound that was far more polished than the dirty Strokes-clones dominating the Lower East Side. This era is defined by that punchy, compressed radio sheen that made 'The Great Escape' an inescapable floor-filler. It was the sound of a band being handed a massive budget and actually knowing how to use it without losing the grit.
The Post-Tapper Pivot
When Tapper left in 2007, the rhythmic identity of the band shifted away from that frantic dance-punk towards the synth-heavy experimentation of Brain Thrust Mastery. They brought in session heavyweights like Andy Burrows and focused on 80s pop textures, moving the guitars further back in the mix to make room for sweeping arrangements. It was a divisive move that traded the dancefloor sweat for a more calculated, 'sophisti-pop' sensibility. You can hear them wrestling with the pressure of a follow-up, trying to prove they weren't just a flash in the pan by expanding their palette.
The DIY Revival
After the major label circus slowed down, they settled into a remarkably consistent run of self-produced or small-studio records starting around TV en Français. They stopped trying to chase the zeitgeist and leaned into a beefier, more muscular rock sound that highlights Murray’s underrated lead playing. Records like Huffy and Lobes show a band that finally got comfortable being a duo, using drum machines and thick bass synths to fill the gaps. It’s the sound of a band surviving by their wits, prioritizing the hook over the trend.

Influences

Pavement — Murray has cited Wowee Zowee as a foundational text for his guitar playing and the band covered 'Frontwards' during their early years. You hear it in the sloppy-but-calculated feedback and the way Murray avoids traditional blues-rock soloing. It gave them the license to be smart-asses while still being melodic.
Dinosaur Jr. — The band famously covered 'The Wagon' and Murray’s thick, fuzzy lead tone is a direct descendant of J Mascis's wall of sound. Underneath the pop hooks on With Love and Squalor, the guitar tracks are often blowing out the red with that specific 90s alternative sludge. It’s the muscle that keeps their pop from being too saccharine.
Hall & Oates — Keith Murray has gone on record calling them one of the greatest songwriting units ever, which explains the shift toward blue-eyed soul melodies on Brain Thrust Mastery. The vocal harmonies and the way Cain’s bass lines drive the melody are pure 80s pop radio worship. It’s where the 'scientists' part of the name comes in—analyzing the structure of a perfect 3-minute hit.
The Cars — The influence of Ric Ocasek is all over their later work, specifically in the way they blend stiff, robotic synthesizers with crunchy power chords. Tracks like 'Rules Don't Stop' are practically blueprints of the The Cars' early hits. They took the lesson that a simple synth line can be more effective than a complex guitar solo.
The Psychedelic Furs — Working with Ed Buller was a deliberate choice because of his history with the Furs, aiming for that specific brand of moody, atmospheric British rock. You can hear Richard Butler's DNA in the way Murray stretches his vowels and leans into the dramatic, reverb-soaked choruses. It’s what separates them from the more 'American' sounding garage bands of the early 2000s.