We Are Scientists - Crap Attack

We Are Scientists caused a few squabbles among indie devotees on the release of their debut album With Love and Squalor last year. Was it just another rehash of a re-heated post-punk cliché, or was it actually quite good? For advocates of the former, it's unlikely this collection of B-Sides, covers and remixes (plus 14 videos on the DVD) will change your mind. But for fans, Crap Attack is a bulging sack of dorky delights. The whiffy title is typical of the band's college-boy sense of humour: in Bang Bang Rock & Roll, a meticulously-blatant Velvets rip-off, Keith Murray sings, "I don't like the sound of the Velvet Underground, second time around." Other faintly tongue-in-cheek turns include covers of Sigur Rós's Hoppipolla (in Icelandic no less) and The Ronnettes' Be My Baby. Elsewhere, acoustic versions of singles like The Great Escape fail to improve on the originals. A hit-and-miss hotchpotch. [Nick Mitchell]