We Are Scientists - SWG3 15/10/2025

We Are Scientists are still here, still brilliant, and still having way more fun than they probably should be.

Two decades on from the release of With Love and Squalor, We Are Scientists rolled into Glasgows SWG3 for the first of three special UK shows celebrating the albums 20th anniversary. It was a full-circle kind of night. Not just for the band, whove now clocked nine albums, but for the crowd - many of whom knew every twitchy riff and every snotty lyric like muscle memory.

They played the album top to bottom, no detours, no tweaks - just pure uncut Squalor. Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt set things off with its nervy momentum and wiry tension, and the band barely took their foot off the gas as they powered through the rest of the record. By the time they reached Whats the Word, theyd more than made the case for why this album still hits so hard twenty years on. Theres not a weak link in the bunch. Just a sweaty blur of taut, punchy drums, razor-sharp guitar lines and infectious choruses.

The band - Keith Murray (guitar/vocals) and Chris Cain (bass/vocals), plus their long-time drummer and secret weapon Keith Carne - brought their usual mix of sharp musicianship and total chaos. They slipped effortlessly into their roles as indie rocks elder statesmen and onstage comedians. Before a single note was played, we were greeted by a Waitrose executive, who appeared to present the band with the coveted Shallot Award (plus a cheque for £250 and a bag of Indian Monsoon ground coffee - who could say no?)

The set itself flew by in a blur of spiky, tightly-wound indie rock. Inaction and Cant Lose sounded as sharp as ever, Cash Cow and Its a Hit still carried that needling swagger, and The Great Escape was met with the kind of reception that suggested half the room had been waiting two decades to belt it out again. No gimmicks, just a band playing a record they clearly still get a kick out of. Theyve said before that the final two tracks have always been tricky to get right live, but with a bit of proper rehearsal, they absolutely nailed it. Worth the Wait sounded tight, confident, and - yes - worth the wait.

SWG3, with its concrete bunker aesthetic and dry-ice haze, felt surprisingly warm tonight - helped along by the bands almost pathological desire to make Glasgow feel special. There was a strong hint that the band wouldve preferred to wrap up the tour in Glasgow rather than London - and given the chaos, volume, and sheer enthusiasm of the crowd, you could see why.

The Glasgow faithful are always up for it, and the bands clear affection for the city only amplified the energy. Personally, Ive seen We Are Scientists play Glasgow more than a dozen times now, and they never miss the chance to say how much they love it here. Glasgow was loud, messy, and entirely up for it.

After the main set wrapped, they dived into a bonus round of post-Squalor hits, including cuts from new album Qualifying Miles, alongside live favourites like Rules Dont Stop, Buckle, and I Cut My Own Hair. Keyboardist and touring member Sean McVerry joined in for a handful of the newer tracks, adding a bit of sparkle to the chaos.

Its easy to forget just how many good songs We Are Scientists have under their belt. Theyve never been the flashiest or the trendiest, but theyve been absurdly consistent, and tonight felt like a celebration of that fact. A love letter to 2005, sure - but also a note-to-self: We Are Scientists are still here, still brilliant, and still having way more fun than they probably should be.

Review By Fraser Doig, photography by Stewart Fullerton.

This article has been viewed 71 times