The Scientists – This Is My Happy Hour // Swampland (Au Go Go Records) 1982. Probably my favourite moment by The Scientists. In their early “Pissed on Another Planet” days they were just a little too twee for me. Basically, a power-pop band from Perth Australia which I believe is the capital of Western Australia. It’s a pretty remote place and The Scientists seemed like a naive and innocent group of lads singing songs about true love and girls. Then they broke up. When they reformed, it was an entirely different band with the exception of leader Kim Salmon. They then moved to London, with a completely different look and sound, more aligned with what fellow Aussie ex-pats The Birthday Party were also doing. They grew their hair long and started sludging up the music. In fact, this version of The Scientists may be the inventors of the whole “grunge” aesthetic. At this point they released the This Is My Happy Hour/Swampland 45 in 1982, the influential Blood Red River mini-LP and the We Had Love/Clear Spot 45 in 1983. After this the material starts to weaken. So in my opinion, this 7inch represents The Scientists at the height of their powers. They were a nasty, sludgy, evil mess of a band who must have just been insane to witness in concert in 1982. This is My Happy Hour is also one of the funniest songs ever written. At least to me.
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
Those vocals sound like a cross between Ian Curtis and Fred from the B-52′s.
This is a great 7 inch, the Scientists are a really underrated band. Everyone should hear tracks like “Solid Gold Hell” and “Set It On Fire”… amazing! I actually found out about the Scientists, because I came across a record “Set it on Fire! A Tribute to the Scientists ” that has covers by the likes of Laughing Hyenas and Mudhoney, and I was like, “Who the Hell are the Scientists?!?!” I was glad I found out, and everyone else should find out about them too. Great Post!
Cool stuff. There were always other OZ/NZ bands that I liked better, oddly enough, but these two songs are pretty great.
They played in July 2007 in Madrid. The original line-up, and still in a very good shape!
I mean the line-up of Human Jukebox, i.e.
Heard the Scientists back in 1983 on the (late great) John Peel Show. “Set It On Fire”, “Nitro” and “Rev Head” were noisy slabs of sound which were the perfect response to the shallow pop of the day.
Then I had the opportunity to see them support the Gun Club in late 1984 in London,and they were superb.
“You Get What You Deserve” is a marvellous album which should be heard by anybody who likes The
Cramps, The Stooges, Suicide etc.
A lost classic.