Album Review: We Are Scientists – Qualifying Miles

David M Rangel  /  July 16, 2025  /  Reviews

In recent years, I don’t know how many conversations I have had with musicians and music fans about the fate and future of guitar-driven rock. But there have been many, as the musical landscape has gradually changed over the last few decades, with guitar rock often taking a backseat to genres such as electronic dance music, hip-hop, etc. On more than one occasion, friends of mine and I have pondered whether rock music will go the way of jazz. That is to say, where you go to a specific venue, pay a cover fee to sit and listen to an outdated musical art form that only a handful of diehards are clinging to.

The massive worldwide tour of the recently reunited Gallagher brothers and their band, Oasis, is an encouraging sign that rock music is not only retaining its core audience but opening up new doors for much younger listeners. It is, arguably, safe to say that we are not yet headed in the direction of the old touring jazz band, anytime soon.

We Are Scientists is one band who are soldiering on in the name of well-written, catchy, guitar-oriented rock ‘n’ roll. Although their vibes have varied over the course of multiple albums, the instrumental arena in which they work has remained a constant.

The band’s ninth album, Qualifying Miles, is slated for a July 18, 2025 release. But the release date is the only thing of that time that one can associate with this album, as it exudes the breezy sounds of mid-’90s to early ‘00s alternative music, when MTV’s 120 Minutes played an influential part in the forming of people’s musical tastes.

From the very first notes of track 1, “Prelude to What”, we’re met with jangly guitar sounds, familiar to those Gen Xers who were in their early to late 20s. The shoegaze style of this tune seems strategically placed at the very beginning of the record with the lyrics: “Your window’s closing, keep it open.” It’s as if the song is a prelude of what’s to come on the rest of the record, with a message stating that we all get older. We can’t avoid the passage of time. But it doesn’t mean our spirits can’t remain young and hopeful.

The overall shoegaze, emo, Britpop and (dare I say) pop-punk aspects of this album will likely pique the interest of people who came of age before the prominence of the Internet, and prior to the time when our phones started spoon-feeding us the music we should be listening to. But, like the earlier revival of vinyl records, and the current comeback of compact discs, this record could surely have appeal to Gen Zers from a novelty standpoint, as well as a “discovering” of what their elders already know. It could give them a taste of a time when music was not so compartmentalized, with playlists made strictly for “this group or that group.”

Bassist Chris Cain and Vocalist/Guitarist Keith Murray put a fun, tuneful spin on nostalgia and the music of past decades. But they do so in a way that is relevant to today, with lyrics that are not merely longing for bygone days, but are actually encouraging the listener, in a sense, to get their head into the future and live for now. Because the past just cannot be revisited, despite the efforts of so many people attempting to do something that will never be attained – trying to “go home again.”

The first single, “Please Don’t Say It,” instantly takes the listener back to New York at the start of the millennium, with bass and guitar lines snaking through the smoky, slightly dark corners of the indie rock scene of the time (remember The Bravery?). It has a taste of The Killers in their heyday. There are still bands that do this, but We Are Scientists do it better than most.

It’s common knowledge that the band members can be witty gents, often including unrehearsed, off-the-cuff humor into their live act. Traces of this occasionally appear through lyrics such as “I’m dumber than I look, impossible as that may seem, I’m always thunderstruck,” in the part Paisley Underground, part grunge sound of “Starry-Eyed”.

“What You Want Is Gone” is a sobering warning that enough experiences have passed you by, and there is no more time for wasted time and waiting around. All of this is channeled through a vocal that bears a strong resemblance to Suede’s Brett Anderson.

As I listened to “I Already Hate This”, I felt like I was listening to a CD bought at Tower Records, while getting ready to go see the first Scream movie. The song so easily puts you in “that moment.” Perhaps the song most dripping with nostalgia – and longing hardest for long-ago youth – is “The Mall in My Dreams.”  Like other songs on this record, this track is part childhood novelty, and part serious message for the here and now. That message being conveyed in this song: don’t change for anyone. A thought to ponder, indeed.

As an experienced music reviewer, it’s always a pleasure to get the occasional record where every song is worth multiple listens. We Are Scientists have achieved that unusual feat, here in the form of Qualifying Miles. Though they often fly under the radar, they have been quietly making way-above-average records for two decades. I, for one, am excited that they are keeping the past alive, yet at the same time, interestingly driving us into who we are now, in the year 2025.

The albums it out everywhere tomorrow. Listen to the most recent single here.