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Review: We Are The Physics - Your Friend, The Atom [Album]

DIY Records // "the aural equivalent of whiplash."

by Lauren, October 20th, 2012 and has been Read 1431 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin October 20th, 2012.

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I can’t claim to know all the sci-fi new wave punk bands from Glasgow, but even if I did I reckon the three Michael’s and one Chris that make up We Are The Physics would be the best and most definitely the silliest.

Following up their excellently titled 2008 debut We Are The Physics Are Okay At Music their new record Your Friend, The Atom sees them once again demonstrate that they are actually quite ‘okay’ at music as they play their instruments irreconcilably fast. First single and live favourite ‘Napoleon Loves Josephine’ is a staple of their sound showing their ability to be both comical and to teach their listeners what they forgot to pay attention to in school: “You’ll change a name to suit yourself, you’ll change a name and shoot yourself.” With all that fast clapping and angular guitar work learning’s never been so fun.



They’re easily the most frantic band you’ll hear and you’re guaranteed to have more fun listening to anything here than you will with other people. Other people don’t sing you songs about Croatian tennis stars now do they? Yes there is a paean to Goran Ivanisevic here it’s called ‘Goran Ivanisevic’ and it’s excellent. It’s a solemn declaration to art of giving your all to what you love, plus it’s the only song you’re ever likely to hear with the line: “You’re growing tits like Alan Turing.” It’s easy to write We Are The Physics off as a comedy band, but they deserve much more credit than that, yes they’re humorous, but with this twist they tackle such grand subjects while steering clear of the mundanity of every group that’s ever written a song about a girl and as they say:

“We wouldn’t ever write a love song – there’s 60 years of them if you want to start sifting through them.”

With their sophomore effort though it’s clear they’ve grown and nothing says mature like ‘There Is No Cure For The Common Cold Don’t Expect A Cure For Cancer’. Here they tone things down a bit with soft drums and light keyboard flourishes over a simple guitar line while the lyrics take things to darker territory than we’ve previously seem them. It’s a simple track with a chorus sure to become a lighter waving favourite.

We Are The Physics pack their songs with unusual b-movie sounds (‘Go Go Nucleo, For Science’) and nerdy lyrics, the opening seconds of ‘Cluedo’ sound like someone screaming in a horrifying cyber realm, they bring to mind pulpy fiction the likes of Harlan Ellison dish out. This experimentation with processors and electronics adds vital and awkwardly soothing relief from the onslaught of guitars. At other times they manage to meld softer more accessible melodies into their repertoire. ‘All My Friends Are JPEGs’ is a wonderfully funny comment on the superficial internet age we find ourselves in: “I’m now in the background of more photos than I’m in actual photos of myself, tag, tag, tagged” and it does it all with a sharp catchy math rock panache.

Their stabby shouty vocal style (‘Applied Robotics’) is intertwined seamlessly with the stop-start rhythms of their jerk pop and is the aural equivalent of whiplash. If you don’t like the idea of a car crash then get yourself a copy of Your Friend, The Atom, you might not get the insurance pay out, but in the long run it’ll serve you much better. The Scottish accent of vocalist Michael M gives them a soft friendly edge—when he’s not screaming like he’s being repeatedly kneed in the stomach—and finale ‘Olivia Neutron Bomb’ is the gentle calm after the (pardon the pun) explosive storm that this second record is.

After seven years together, a variety of astoundingly riotous live shows, and two ridiculously good albums We Are The Physics are definitely more than okay at music and if you have any desire for crazy fun and maybe an impromptu science lesson then you need to hear this band, they won’t change your life, but they most certainly will enrich it.

Your Friend, The Atom is out on the 22nd of October 2012.

Listen to:

• 'Napoleon Loves Josephine'
• 'All My Friends Are JPEGs'
• 'Dildonics'