I’m a sucker for new We Are Scientists tunes so the announcement that their most recent album (Which we reviewed here) has a deluxe edition with an album’s worth of bonus material included has the RNRF offices pretty frickin’ giddy to say the least. Comprised of five demos, a remix, four acoustic tracks, and three brand new tunes, Megaplex: Rise of the Lycans easily comes off as the victory lap that Megaplex rightly deserves.
“Second Acts” is synth heavy lumbering beast of an opener and quintessential modern We Are Scientists while “Slow Death” is riff heavy and a little reminiscent of former touring mates Arctic Monkeys before they went lame and lounge. “Give It Up” is all acoustic-y with all of the handclaps and “Ohhh’s” and “Ahhh’s” your heart could ever hope for and then “Your Song Has Changed” rounds out the new originals with a smooth beats-heavy shuffle.
Megaplex‘s “KIT” gets double the love here with the bass-heavy “Joel Wolf Alice Remix” as well as a demo version later on while four other Megaplex tracks get the “Under The Sea” treatment turning the likes of “No Wait at Five Leaves”, One In, One Out”, “Now or Never”, and “Heart is a Weapon” into veritable croon-fests. Speaking of “One In, One Out”, that’s another that does double duty and gets the bare bones demo treatment alongside a few other Megaplex tracks to give longtime listeners a glimpse into the genesis of their most favorite recent WAS tracks.
Is this perfectly timed deluxe version of a recent album coincidentally released a day after a new national tour kicks off necessary? Hells to the no! Is it still essential listening/purchasing for any We Are Scientists fan? Hells to the yes! So go get yours already!
Megaplex: Rise of the Lycans drops on April 19th and just in time for their tour with Snow Patrol which hits Boston’s Orpheum on April 29th. For those tickets and more, head here. And to get your hands on the album redux, head here.