Hear We Are Scientists at Daytrotter on This Day in 2012

Brooklyn pop-rock band We Are Scientists released their long-awaited sixth studio album, Megaplex, late last year. Following 2016’s Helter Seltzer, Megaplex was a significant undertaking, with vocalist/guitarist Keith Murray joking upon release in his usual manner, “I mean, the Velvet Underground never made six albums. The Smiths didn’t. Pavement, Guns N’ Roses, The Stooges — none of them could do it. So, I guess we’re just objectively better than those bands now? It’s just a mathematical fact, right?” Now, despite the band’s staunch rule of restricting each record to just 10 songs, they’ve released a deluxe version of that album, Megaplex Deluxe, which contains a whopping 23 tracks and dropped last week. The band explained their thought-process behind the rule-bending in a recent statement:

Now, you may think that we’re violating our own ten-song rule with this deluxe version of Megaplex, and to that we say, “You’re an idiot.” A deluxe version isn’t an album, it’s a collection, a compilation, a Dionysian free-for-all. It’s the aural equivalent of one of those buffet breakfasts at a German hotel, where you’re mixing hard-boiled eggs and waffles and stinky cheeses and cornichons and those weird pickled fish bits and sour cherry jams, and you’re pretty much having the best time of your gustatory life precisely because combining this plunder onto one plate is utterly indulgent madness. That’s what we’re offering here, starting with the magnificently curated original version of Megaplex and then tromping headlong into a veritable Candyland of wonders.

In 2010, they released another of those 10-song works, their third album, Barbara. Two years later, they recorded a Daytrotter session featuring songs from that record, including “Nice Guys,” “I Don’t Bite” and “Rules Don’t Stop Me.” Keep scrolling to hear the whole performance.

We Are Scientists are on tour now with Snow Patrol. Find all the dates right here.

Again, you can listen to We Are Scientists’ 2012 Daytrotter session below. While you’re here, watch their session in the Paste Studio from last year, further down.