With a sound that was swampy, primal and modern-urban all at once - as much in the tradition of rock n' roll and punk rock as it was a rejection of those things, the Scientists' formula was as universal as it was specific to their own experience. The themes of getting wasted, driving around in hotted-up cars, being trapped in crap jobs, and paranoia were their subject matter. Machine throb bass and drums with jagged car-wreck guitars were their modus operandi. Fitting into no place or time they spurned all but the most rudimentary and elemental of rock structures to create a sound all their own. "The Scientists proved to me that rock 'n' roll could be played by gentlemen in fine silk shirts half unbuttoned and still be dirty, cool and real. — Thurston Moore "They wrote fantastic singles and looked like they just crawled out of the ooze. What more could you ask for?" — Warren Ellis