Following the success of their October UK tour which saw them headline London’s iconic Roundhouse, We Are Scientists have announced further shows celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their debut album ‘With Love & Squalor’ as well as new songs from their recent album ‘Qualifying Miles’.
In an industry where bands routinely burst onto the scene with meteoric intensity only to fade just as quickly, We Are Scientists have quietly crafted one of alternative rock’s most remarkable sustained careers. For over two decades, the New York-based outfit — comprising founding members Keith Murray and Chris Cain — has consistently delivered sharp, infectious indie rock, maintaining the rare ability to evolve without losing their essential DNA.
In time for the 20th anniversary of their seminal debut, We Are Scientists released their ninth studio album, Qualifying Miles, on July 18th 2025. This record finds the band revisiting childhood roots, embracing the raw immediacy of guitar-driven indie rock they were weaned on.
Origins: From U-Haul to Underground Sensation
The band’s origin story has become the stuff of indie rock legend. Murray and Cain met in 1997 while attending Pomona College in Claremont, California, bonding over a shared love of comedy, film, and music, after meeting at a Dawson’s Creek viewing party. After graduation, they formed We Are Scientists in Berkeley in 1999, taking their name from the gentle barbs of a U-Haul inspector who, after assessing their appearance, asked whether they were scientists.
The two friends relocated to Brooklyn in 2001, enticed by free housing at Keith’s grandfather’s Bensonhurst duplex, and whispers of a burgeoning indie scene. After three years of uninterrupted dues-paying, a sapling We Are Scientists were put in the room with a producer at the time nearly as green as they. Ariel Rechsthaid (Vampire Weekend, Charli XCX, Usher) recorded their debut album, With Love and Squalor, in 2004, and then W.A.S. was signed to Virgin Records. The album dropped in 2005 (UK) and 2006 (US), and catapulted the band to international acclaim. Singles like “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” “The Great Escape,” and “It’s a Hit” captured the zeitgeist of the post-punk revival scene while establishing We Are Scientists’ signature sound: taut, danceable rock with razor-sharp hooks, and thoughtful, witty lyrics rendered in Murray’s unmistakeable vocal. The album sold over 100,000 copies in its first six months in the UK alone, certifying the record’s gold status and establishing We Are Scientists as legitimate players in the dance rock scene. Appearances the likes of Late Night With Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and Later… with Jools Holland followed.
We Are Scientists returned in 2008 with their second EMI release, Brain Thrust Mastery. Propelled by the single “After Hours,” which reached #11 on the UK charts, the album further elevated the band’s profile, landing them main-stage slots at some of the world’s biggest festivals, including Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury, and Coachella, and tours with legendary acts such as R.E.M., Pixies, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, Au Revoir Simone, Art Brut, Metric, and Wolf Parade. “U2 supported us once at a show in London,” Keith notes. “But they were surprise guests, so maybe it didn’t really count.”
Next: Then What?
After parting ways with EMI, Murray & Cain embraced independence with 2010’s Barbara, released through several distributors via their own Masterswan Recordings, and featuring the drumming of British icon Andy Burrows (Razorlight). The album’s success fueled nearly two straight years of touring that saw them perform for the first time in countries like Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Colombia, significantly expanding a global fanbase.
The 2010s saw We Are Scientists solidify their status as indie rock mainstays while continuing to experiment. TV en Français (2014), produced by Chris Coady, was followed by Helter Seltzer (2016) and Megaplex (2018), each showcasing different facets of the band’s sound while retaining a core identity. By this time, Keith Carne had joined W.A.S. as their regular touring and studio drummer, completing the lineup that continues today.
Beyond the Music: Comedy and Connection
Anyone who’s attended a We Are Scientists show knows that the music is only part of the experience. Murray and Cain have distinguished themselves through sharp, improvisational comedy during performances — never rehearsed, always genuine. “With apologies to professionals everywhere, the thought of rehearsing or reusing stage banter makes me cringe,” Murray has said.
This sensibility extends to their music videos (many self-directed); their 2009 MTV series Steve Wants His Money; a pandemic-era, music-and-desperation-themed podcast called Dumpster Dive; and their communications with fans, nowadays focused through their Substack Slow Descent Into Radness.
But What About…?
The band’s creativity continued to flourish through the self-produced albums Huffy (2021) and Lobes (2023), records beloved by fans and critics alike for their ambitious experimentation with studio production and expanded sonic palettes. Keith describes this studio-centered approach fondly: “We’ve generally been more interested in making the recorded versions of our songs their own individual pieces of art rather than a simple reflection of how they’d sound live. Those two records are my favorite in our discography. Until now.”
Qualifying Miles: A New Chapter Begins
We Are Scientists released their highly anticipated ninth studio album, Qualifying Miles, on July 18, 2025, through beloved German indie Grönland Records. Grönland oversaw the band’s last three records in Europe, each time expanding the EU listenership, and this marks the first time since their debut that W.A.S. have handed over worldwide control to a single label. Bassist Chris Cain is confident: “Oh, nobody’s worried about Grönland.”
The album finds Murray and Cain embracing a stripped-down, “band in a room” aesthetic that harkens back to the music that shaped their childhoods. Murray explains. “Every producer we’ve ever met has pitched us a ‘band-in-a-room’ recording approach,” Keith explains. “We always found that uninspired. But this group of songs really seemed to call for exactly that kind of stripped-down energy. The crop songs we wrote for Qualifying Miles covered a huge range of genres, but somehow the songs that resonated them most with us all shared this vaguely 90s guitar rock sensibility.”
Despite not setting out with a thematic framework, Murray discovered a common thread running through the new material: “It wasn’t until we’d chosen them and I started doing some lyrical touchups that I realized a lot these songs hit upon similar themes: wistfulness for the past, a sort of melancholy nostalgia, that kind of thing.”
In support of the new album, We Are Scientists have announced extensive touring for the coming year. The band will begin in Europe at the end of April, then on to the UK, with festivals in the summer. North American shows and further runs across the Atlantic will follow later in 2025.
Twenty years after their breakthrough, Murray and Cain continue to approach their craft with the same blend of intelligence, wit, and musical adventurousness that put them on the musical map. As they wrote to fans at the close of last year: “Although we aren’t getting any younger, but are rather simply staying the same age, we plan to keep this entertainment company afloat for a long time yet.” With Qualifying Miles and a busy 2025 touring schedule, there’s much more to come from We Are Scientists — drawing thoughtfully from their past while charting a course for musical territory they’ve yet to explore.
We Are Scientists play Concorde 2 on Thursday 23rd July 2026.
Tickets are available from the Dice app.
