Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

With Love And Squalor

EMAILPRINTby We Are Scientists

We Are Scientists reviews
67
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Virgin

Release Date: 10 January 2006

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Indie, Rock

Summary

This is the major-label debut for the Brooklyn-based indie-rock trio fronted by Keith Murray.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Even though With Love And Squalor quickly ingratiates itself, some of its best parts reveal themselves over time.

Read Full Review >
80

Billboard

Despite undeniable similarities to other bands that arrived at this party earlier, this album lacks pretension and self-importance. [21 Jan 2006]

75

E! Online

With Love and Squalor certainly won't change pop music as we know it, but it packs surprisingly huge melodies and shamelessly danceable beats.

Read Full Review >
70

PopMatters

With Love and Squalor is pretty much everything you've come to expect from neo-post-punk music: disco beats, prominent basslines, and those ever-angular guitars, all playing under some clipped vocals that have a distinctly British cast to them. And yet, interspersed among the more-of-the-same is a sense of more recent rock history.

Read Full Review >
70

All Music Guide

We Are Scientists come off well in being both snide and playful. Finding that balance is what makes With Love and Squalor a solid debut.

Read Full Review >
70

Q Magazine

A very respectable pop-punk debut. [Oct 2005, p.121]

67

Pitchfork

Most of these tracks have hooks aimed straight for your jugular, but "Can't Lose" shows the band could go even farther with a little restraint.

Read Full Review >
67

Entertainment Weekly

Despite a lack of originality, their third-gen post-punk is saved by some winning choruses and singer Keith Murray's swaggering come-ons and mocking of the hipster lifestyle. [20 Jan 2006, p.71]

60

Slant Magazine

Despite losing some steam towards the finish, With Love And Squalor marks this threesome as a band worth watching.

Read Full Review >
60

Alternative Press

Sounds rather pedestrian. [Jan 2006, p.142]

60

Blender

No, it ain't rocket science. But when they're headlining arenas, it's gonna look fairly brilliant. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.98]

60

Rolling Stone

Suggests a cross between Bloc Party and the band's tourmates Hot Hot Heat.

Read Full Review >
58

Stylus Magazine

By no means have We Are Scientists made a great record, but it shows enough promise to make us believe that it might just be possible in the future.

Read Full Review >
50

Under The Radar

Bashed-out third-generation dance-punk and Long Island emo. [#12, p.97]

45

Lost At Sea

For 80s nostalgia freaks, you might find that We Are Scientists have a few things in common with The Cure, and you might find that charming. But that’ll tide you over only so long before you realize this is nothing more than a major label trying to play catch-up by signing somebody who sounds like the flavor-of-the-month.

Read Full Review >
40

Prefix Magazine

Much of With Love and Squalor is like your old coat rack: You know where the hooks are going to be even in your sleep.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Marcus F gave it a10:
Good album

Luke B.D gave it a10:
One of the best albums of the last few years if not the best!!!

Jack gave it a9:
This album is not going to win anything, but it won my heart. I have no idea how the end of the cd is getting so much slack. Between "Worth the Wait" and "What's the Word", i can't stop. Just put "Can't Lose" at the end and you have 3 of the best sounding songs of this year. I just wish the rest of the album was as good as those three.

tom w gave it a9:
One of the best albums released in the past 4 years, along with soad/slipknot/futureheads and modest mouse. Inaction, nobody move, this scene is dead, the great escape are the best songs

Lee H gave it a9:
Don't read the overall review from the critics, as MC has missed out highly favourable reviews from the likes of NME, Guradian, Uncut and Mojo. Not quite a classic, but by no means a risky purchase. Get indie-pop that will keep your head bopping, but not so shallow that you think you'd have heard everything in one listen. Clever and catchy

Gabo S gave it an8:
They may not be the best out there, but man they sound good. "The Great Escape" has to be my favorite song in the album, and the rest of the album revolves on the same sound, basically meaning that if you like one song, you'll probably like the rest. They kinda sound a lot like a mix of almost ALL alternative/indie bands out there, but they still have their own sound. I've been listening to this for about 3 months, and it's only gotten better. The entire album is fun to listen to, and if you ignore some of the lyrics, add em' to your indie rock collection!

Sylvio M gave it a10:
We Are Scientists is the one of the best bands that i had know in the last months, and i heard a lot of new bands.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use