“We have about as much to do with science as Kurt Cobain had with actual Nirvana,” explains Science Club vocalist and bassist Nick Elmer. “Nick and Joey work in computer science, which is a kind of science, I suppose,” fellow vocalist and guitarist Nate Adams concurs. Instead, the nerd-punk (why not?) trio were founded on collective boredom. Each of the original members – former drummer Joe left due to family commitments to be replaced by current band-mate Joey – found themselves bored and without direction.
Science Club allows the trio to channel their self-confessed nerd tendencies. As Elmer notes, being in a punk band in itself is stereotypically nerdy. “I know more about Wonder Woman that I do my own mother,” he jokes. Part quarter-life crisis, all three members are comfortable in their geekdom. “I would say we’re nerds for sure. Two of us are programmers, and I paid money, money I had to work to get, to see Will Smith’s “After Earth.” That is the act of a man who does not have his priorities in order,” Adams cements.
Whatever the driving force behind Science Club, they’ve channelled it into upbeat, raw and punchy punk. Loosely inhabiting the same genre house as The Smith Street Band, Restorations and their ilk, Science Club are often more up-beat and jovial. It’s a perfect balance between not taking themselves seriously, and being just serious enough. Having released a wealth of material in the last few years, leading up to ‘Day Job’, their impressive yet organic output schedule is testament to this.
“It’s funny, because the first five years of the band’s history were largely completely inert,” Adams admits. “We practiced maybe once a month, and played maybe three shows a year. It was tough, because we all lived all over the place and had weird, intersecting schedules. When Joey joined the band, we tried to make a commitment to being more active. We’ve played more shows and released more music in the last two years than I ever expected we would, and I still feel antsy about it sometimes, like the band is a shark that will die if it stops moving or something. That said, it’s been way more fun that way. There is nothing more satisfying to me than bringing some shell of a song to Nick and Joey and watching them make into something new and great. It’s very easy to write new music with guys like these.”
“We tend to get antsy playing the same stuff at practice every week,” confirms Elmer. “Sometimes we promise each other not to make any new songs until we’ve played what we already have live a couple times and then stumble into something fun while playing around and it becomes a new song. It feels like we’re miners and we’re not going to stop digging until we hit lava and burn up.”
‘Day Job’ is the band’s second full-length in their current guise. “It’s about getting older and still wanting to go out and have fun, but goddamn it if you wouldn’t rather just sit at home and do nothing after a full day of work,” Elmer explains the record’s juxtaposition between apathy and enthusiasm. “A lot of the songs are about transitional events, and being stuck between this idea of what traditional adulthood looks like and where joy actually comes from. There are expectations, and even if you don’t subscribe to them, they’re still inherently there, and that steady throb can make things confusing. That said, there’s also songs about water balloon fights and falling asleep while driving a car,” adds Adams.
So as they continue in their own day jobs – “I work in marketing now, and there’s a reason no one has ever written a folk song about that shit,” Adams laughs – the Philadelphia based punks are sarcastically optimistic about the future. There’s no rest for the trio as Adams details future releases already in the pipeline.
“I want to play every house and basement show possible! I want to make more music! I want to trick Nate and Joe into making Science Club a Cheap Trick tribute band!” Elmer concludes. For Adams, as for many musicians, the band is all about experiences. “Honestly though,” he summarises, “if I can look back on this year and see that we’re still staying busy, still trying new things, and still enjoying each other, I’ll consider it a success.”
‘Day Job’ will be available from the 24th February. More details on the band can be found via BandCamp and Facebook. In the meantime, stream the record in full a week ahead of release below.