The anniversary album tour can be a tricky thing to navigate. On the one hand, it’s a milestone celebration and even casual fans can get pretty excited. On the other hand, it trades in nostalgia and often can be an admittance that a band’s best work is in the long past. For me, those latter concerns have largely been alleviated in recent years as many more bands are celebrating these kinds of anniversaries earlier and more often, and mixing in newer music. This was definitely the mood with an anniversary album show as We Are Scientists stopped at Saint Paul’s Turf Club for a play though of their debut album and much more.

Sean McVerry took to the stage as the opening act. The Brooklyn based artist plays both solo (as he basically was here tonight) and as part of the band TELECOMS. His most recent album is 2025’s Steve, and we got a duo (vocals/keys/guitar and other electronica, drummer from the headliner) as McVerry kicked off with Disposable Income, a great intro to his music and wide range of styles all in that one song. He had several vocal tones as well, and it made for for several variations of indie that seemed heavily influenced by 70’s rock. Different Language was nearly yacht rock but the next one switched to a very modern indie vibe. It was nearly impossible not to move along to these numbers and even with a fairly light crowd, the front of the stage was full to people bouncing. With the drummer heading off the stage, McVerry’s stage banter was top shelf (“First time in St. Paul. Minneapolis? Been there, done that.”) before going into Stimulation off the recent record and it was certainly a quieter and more plaintive song. A TELECOMS song let McVerry hit the high notes with a solid falsetto. Back to the duo, it was a long instrumental that built up to perhaps the most raucous song of the set. Finishing on a brand new song Unusual, Sean McVerry had really impressed with a great mix of songs.

Up next was the headliner, NYC based We Are Scientists. With nine studio albums, including 2025’s Qualifying Miles, they have honed a pretty compelling indie rock sound and they are well known for their on stage humor. We last saw the band opening for Snow Patrol at First Avenue in May 2019. Their current tour is a call back to the past as their very successful debut album With Love and Squalor hitting its twentieth anniversary. The band is playing the album in its entirety, with other songs on the front and back end. The trio appeared with Keith Murray (vocals, guitar), Chris Cain (bass, backing vocals) and Keith Carne (drums) and oh boy, did they come out strong. You’ve Lost Your S**t had Murray all over the stage and he had the vocal chops to get the audience jazzed. Opening banter was great (“Pro tip, handle the winter by moving to Duluth from December to March.”), and as they launched into Rules Don’t Stop, we got an extended run of dual vocals and Cain was a good match that let Murray fly even higher and that final held note was brilliant in length from both of them. The start of the album had cheers and phones out as they flew into Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt and Carne’s drums were magnificent. The band was frenetic and it was a palpable rock energy that the crowd loved. Murray was the spark plug, but the band’s engine was in racing form and the end of Inaction smoked. After more on stage comedy, Can’t Lose was a slightly slower paced, but exacting number that blossomed during the final chorus. That early 2000’s indie rock sound à la Franz Ferdinand was undeniable, and Cash Cow was another banger with Murray and Cain killing on vocals and strings. Every time Murray flew into another round of jumping around the stage, I wondered how he could keep enough breath for singing, but he never faltered, though he did finally shed his jacket and the. head into the audience for the majority of Textbook. (Props as always to the Turf Club staff who made sure everything went off without a hitch.)

We Are Scientists seemed to be hitting their stride as they were rolling past the first hour and Lousy Reputation had great guitar and bass riffs with Cain and Carne both on back up vocals in a great moment. What’s the Word was the closing number from the album and Murray was all punchy vocals and jangly guitar. Although the album was done, the band was nowhere near finished. Buckle, one of my personal favorites, was an excellent song to follow up with and Carne’s drum work was so very good and Murray’s guitar solo kicked things up another notch. McVerry was on stage playing guitar for The Big One and Murray simply crushed those nearly yelled choruses. What You Want Is Gone was from the newest album and was a great way to close the main set. They were back soon enough, and finished the two song encore with After Hours, with Murray blasting the lyrics “This night is winding down, but time means nothing”. The strong close and We Are Scientists had filled the ninety plus minute set with indie rock goodness and headed back to merch to talks with excited fans.