Australian punk and proto-grunge cult heroes The Scientists, who formed back in 1981, have just announced Negativity, their first album in 35 years. It follows their 9H20.SiO2 EP which the band released in 2019 following their first ever U.S. shows in 2018.  The album will be out June 11 via In the Red (preorder).

The lineup for the album is singer-guitarist Kim Salmon, lead guitarist Tony Thewlis, and bassist Boris Sujdovic, who were all in The Scientists’ 1981-85 incarnation, and drummer Leanne Cowie, who joined for their 1986 release Weird Love. Salmon said he had no interest in making a new record until the U.S. tours — their reception in the States inspired new music. “People think of the ‘80s as being keytars and mullet haircuts, but there was another side to all of that, and we were part of it,” says Salmon. “This record is another thing again. It is like a contemporary version of the Scientists of the ‘80s. To me, that’s cool.”

The first single from Negativity is “Outsider,” a terrific garage punk ripper with heaps of attitude. You can watch the video for the song, and check out album art and the tracklist, below.

Tracklist:
1. Outsider
2. Make It Go Away
3. Naysayer
4. Safe
5. Magic Pants
6. Seventeen
7. Suave
8. I Wasn’t Good At Picking Friends
9. Moth-Eaten Velvet
10. Dissonance
11. Outerspace Boogie