Negativity (Vinyl LP)

The Scientists’ powerful brand of deranged swamp-rock returns with a vengeance as In the Red Records unleashes Negativity, an all-new magnum opus featuring the first new full length album by the Australian band’s penultimate line-up in thirty-five years.

The bruising eleven-track collection features a Scientists configuration much beloved by connoisseurs of the band’s work: singer-guitarist Kim Salmon, lead guitarist Tony Thewlis, and bassist Boris Sujdovic, all veterans of the group’s defining 1981-85 outfit, and drummer Leanne Cowie, who replaced drummer Brett Rixon on the storming 1986 release Weird Love.

A solid crop of fresh originals is highlighted by the opening statement of purpose Outside; the offbeat, yowling waltz Naysayer; the hilarious, self-mocking Suave, which Salmon says was inspired by the work of his countrymen the Moodists; and the utterly surprising Moth-Eaten Velvet, a Velvet Underground homage in ballad form that features a three-piece string section. Instrumental guests on the album include producer Mumford, who contributes trombone on Make It Go Away, and Salmon’s daughter Emma, who essays piano and background vocals.

Raw, freewheeling, and spattered with the high-voltage sound, the Scientists have drawn from such influences as the Stooges, Suicide, the Gun Club, and the Cramps, Negativity is jubilant, unpredictable listening.

Tracklist:

1. Outsider
2. Make It Go Away
3. Naysayer
4. Safe
5. Magic Pants
6. Seventeen
7. The Science Of Suave
8. I Wasn't Good At Picking Friends
9. Moth Eaten Velvet
10. Dissonance
11. Outer Space Boogie