The
chance to revisit The Scientists at their peak reminds us not only
what an explosive rock and roll band they were in their own right,
but reminds us about this whole rich vein of Australian rock and
roll. Raw rock and roll, without distracting extras. No fashion
statements. Just the music, exciting for its own sake. Minimal because
that's how it had to be, has to be. The Scientists burst out of
Perth fired up by the punk era, touched on the way by the likes
of Velvet Underground. Kim Samon's vocals growled and snarled threateningly,
distorted like his guitar. The rhythm section stood like an impenetrable
wall behind him. They roared through Sydney and found an immediate
home as Beasts Of Bourbon contemporaries. The Smiths could never
have come from Australia. Too much charisma for the sake of charisma.
REM could never have come out of Australia. Too much mystery for
the sake of mystery. The Scientists went straight to the core of
the music of their day, and as we hear from the later recordings
on this compilation, were very inventive with it, in 1986 already
experimenting with loops and samples, inside that primal rock and
roll environment that was their domain. Altogether the band had
a nine year lifespan. This represents the band at the end, from
1984 on. The CD combines two eras and two recording periods, and
two albums, 'You Get What You Deserve' and 'The Human Jukebox',
the first representing the sum of what had been before, the second
taking it to its possibilities, which Kim Salmon then carried through
to his next group, the Surrealists. There have been Scientists reformations,
including one to promote this record, but nothing to match the band
at its prime. An that's what this record is. (Citadel Records)
The
chance to revisit The Scientists at their peak reminds us not only
what an explosive rock and roll band they were in their own right,
but reminds us about this whole rich vein of Australian rock and
roll. Raw rock and roll, without distracting extras. No fashion
statements. Just the music, exciting for its own sake. Minimal because
that's how it had to be, has to be. The Scientists burst out of
Perth fired up by the punk era, touched on the way by the likes
of Velvet Underground. Kim Samon's vocals growled and snarled threateningly,
distorted like his guitar. The rhythm section stood like an impenetrable
wall behind him. They roared through Sydney and found an immediate
home as Beasts Of Bourbon contemporaries. The Smiths could never
have come from Australia. Too much charisma for the sake of charisma.
REM could never have come out of Australia. Too much mystery for
the sake of mystery. The Scientists went straight to the core of
the music of their day, and as we hear from the later recordings
on this compilation, were very inventive with it, in 1986 already
experimenting with loops and samples, inside that primal rock and
roll environment that was their domain. Altogether the band had
a nine year lifespan. This represents the band at the end, from
1984 on. The CD combines two eras and two recording periods, and
two albums, 'You Get What You Deserve' and 'The Human Jukebox',
the first representing the sum of what had been before, the second
taking it to its possibilities, which Kim Salmon then carried through
to his next group, the Surrealists. There have been Scientists reformations,
including one to promote this record, but nothing to match the band
at its prime. An that's what this record is. (Citadel Records)