New York City. Home to more bands (and more bloggers) per capita than probably any other city in the US. With so many bands and so many words being devoted to them, it’s hard to believe a band as good as We Are Scientists has flown under the radar for so long. But we’re not here to examine why this is the case, we’re here to see what we can do about it.

We Are Scientists was formed in California in the year 2000 by Chris Cain(bass guitar and backing vocals), Michael Tapper(drums and backing vocals) and Keith Murray(guitar and lead vocals). In 2001 they fled California and moved to New York where they spent the next four years gigging furiously. After influential British DJ Steve Lamacq caught their performance at this year’s South By Southwest festival and started playing one of their songs on BBC radio, the band were quickly signed to a worldwide record deal by Virgin Records. The band has been in the UK since April in advance of the release of their debut album, With Love and Squalor, which was released in the UK last week. Now they are back in the States prepping the country for the domestic album release in January of 2006.

Prior to their opening slot for Ambulance, LTD. on Saturday at the Black Cat, the men that make up We Are Scientists sat down with DCist to talk about, among other things, their crazy tour schedule, signing a major label record deal and their album cover. Below are some excerpts of our conversation. If you want more (and we know you do) stay tuned for the second DCist Podcast, which will feature the audio from the interview and songs clips from the band.