Sedition

Recorded at Shepherds Bush Empire in London in May of 2006, the reunion of the original Australian punks the Scientists proved to be a vehicle for the bands mid-80s lineup of Kim Salmon, Tony Thewlis, Boris Sudjovic, and Leanne Chock to resume operations at least as a touring entity in 2007. This live album attests to why thats true. Eleven tracks worth of classic Scientists material are here, from Swampland, Burnout, Nitro, and Blood Red River to Leadfoot, We Had Love, Rev Head, and Set It on Fire (11 songs in 45 minutes). Its as if they set out to make a definitive greatest-hits record, and most of these versions top the originals by an outback mile, with ragged, swampy max volume with blast-and-throb intensity. Who the hell knew they still had it in them? These are two Aussie bands who have reunited and made live appearances that kick the living shit out of their much younger American contemporaries. For those unaware of the Scientists, they come from Perth, Australia, and were four disillusioned, drunken, doped-up kids with guitars and fast cars who set out to make a racket in a town that had never heard one. Inspired by the noise of the Stooges, the MC5, Alice Cooper, Blue Cheer, Suicide, and a ton of other American rawk acts from the 60s, they did it and carved out a sound that was copied to the point that people dont even know the source of it anymore. Insipid alienated whiney indie rock this aint. Its ugly, brutal, bluesed-out rock & roll from another planet. Link Wray would have understood the Scientists, so would Lux and Ivy from the Cramps; Ron Asheton gets them, so did Mudhoney, Jon Spencer, Sonic Youth, fellow Aussies Dirty Three and Nick Cave. This is music that has to hit your body for you to actually encounter it fully, and you should. Anyone interested in the wild aspect of rock & roll, the untamed, savage fury, and lust of its true hellbent spirit, should give this one a shot. Those who dug the band back when; your suspicions have not been confirmed. This is the Scientists at their furious best. ~ Thom Jurek