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Editorial Reviews
Sisterworld, the follow up to Liars (2007), was written and recorded in Los Angeles by Liars and Tom Biller (Kanye West, Beck, Where The Wild Things Are / Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind soundtracks) This is the first Liars album to be recorded entirely in the USA since 2004s They Were Wrong, So We Drowned and sees Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross taking inspiration from fringe characters lured to LA and the resulting subcultures and alternate spaces that they generate.Sisterworld is Liars own space, completely devoid of influence, somewhere remote from the false promises and discarded dreams amassed in LA. In it Liars explore the underground support systems created to deal with loss of self to society. Say Liars, We're interested in the alternate spaces people create in order to maintain identity in a city like LA. Environments where outcasts and loners celebrate a skewered relationship to society.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Tir Eoghain
Format:Vinyl
The product description for the vinyl Deluxe Edition of SISTERWORLD is largely lacking, so I thought I'd expound on what one might expect. You get both the 180-gram vinyl AND CD versions of the original album, PLUS the 180-gram and CD versions of SISTERWORLD REINTERPRETATIONS. And two booklets. Again that's two records and two compact discs, not just the one that's described here.
It's a nice overall package, to be sure; the gold-plated speakeasy on the front sleeve even swings open. Seems to be well worth the money. So get it before it's sold out, no doubt destined to be snapped up by the vinyl fetishists. I'm looking at YOU, vinyl fetishist!
It's a nice overall package, to be sure; the gold-plated speakeasy on the front sleeve even swings open. Seems to be well worth the money. So get it before it's sold out, no doubt destined to be snapped up by the vinyl fetishists. I'm looking at YOU, vinyl fetishist!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An ominous urban dystopia surrounding a utopian counterculture vision
August 1, 2012
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a brilliant album, and if the Liars weren't so damn oblique I would have heard it a lot sooner. Why is it called SISTERWORLD? I can find no basis for it anywhere. Why the little gold mailbox? Again, no clue. The photos in the foldout insert are more apropos, the three band members looking like bedraggled office workers lost in the woods, which turns out to be right out of the song "The Overachievers." I remember looking at them on the band's website when the album came out and wondering what it signified.
The first four songs are basically an introduction, immersing the listener in an ominous, claustrophobic urban setting. "Scissor" begins with melancholy verses which are interrupted by a loud, aggressive chorus. "No Barrier Fun" is outstanding with prominent cello, violin and viola as well as bassoon. Rattling, clicking percussion are accompanied by rhythmic, bouncing electronic noises, and a xylophone line over the top. "Here Comes All the People" begins with an electric guitar figure which stands out in contrast to the previous track. An ominous (key description for most of the album!) 4-note guitar figure drives the song. The repeated line "carry victims one by one" is the first clear, memorable lyric so far. Which brings me to the fact that I can't suss out most of the lyrics, and there is no lyric sheet anywhere to be found, including online. So I'm sure I'm missing a lot, and I'll share the key lines I can hear. It's all tremendously effective on the level of mood, in any event. The last of the opening songs is "Drip," which is quiet with a clicking snare rim and electronics. The singer eventually asks "when will I awake," and then there is a dramatic piano interlude before the fade.
Now comes the big dramatic moment this has all been building to -- "Scarecrows On a Killer Slant." A strident 4-note rising and falling guitar motif like a siren to a march rhythm opens with a shot. A rap-style vocal, totally different from that on the first four songs, starts indicting someone for "passing a bum on the street." It's not all clear, but eventually he exclaims "Let's take the creeps, stand them in the street, and then kill them all!" There is enough context to assume that it's the white yuppies facing judgement here. It's no right-wing fantasy, quite the contrary, definitely a revenge fantasy of those on the bottom looking up at all the wealth and condescension aimed at them.
"I Still Can See An Outside World" is a poignant interlude. The title says more to me than any lyrics I can understand -- having lived in the central city I can relate to the feeling that it's all buildings and concrete, and the outside world seems remote. This is another song with alternating introspection and a thundering ominous riff.
At this point something totally different and completely unexpected happens, something that I have not seen mentioned in any review of the album anywhere. "Proud Evolution" opens with a utopian Steve Hillage psychedelic guitar riff, followed by a krautrock rhythm with a funky bass line. In other words, we are vaulted from the urban dystopia into a world of enlightened bliss in an instant! This is an incredible song, with the high, keening Hillage-style guitar over the beat, and the repeated chant "Proud evolution, proud evolution, proud evolution..." Yeah, we are evolving, higher and higher, toward ecstasy and unity.
But we don't stay on that plane, we drop back down -- "Drop Dead." Another ominous guitar/synth/drums riff churns away, and the only lyric I've been able to make out is "I'm dying..." It's not morbid, but definitely melancholy. A stunning moment comes right at the end when the guitar shifts to a beautiful pattern of chords and the words "fall from grace" are heard...
Now comes the follow-up to "Scarecrows," "The Overachievers." This song has the clearest vocals on the entire album, though not 100% clear. It opens with a rising 4-note riff and a stomping beat. It is a first-person account of some yuppies who have made so much money they don't have to work anymore -- Silicon Valley millionaires, probably. They "drive a biocar" and "love the Earth" -- "we all surf." Cries of "Help me!" are heard as the narrator explains how "we spend all our time walking in the forest." (Which is the image in the fold-out insert.) The yuppies are bored, though, and cannot be bothered to pay any attention to the poor all around them. So between "Scarecrows" and "Overachievers" the yuppies take a powerful one-two punch. I suspect that this is why a certain influential indie rock website was lukewarm toward this album -- that crew has a strong anti-political slant, and this Liars album has some in-your-face politics!
The last two songs are absolutely beautiful. "Goodnight Everything" is tender and moving, with a synth line over a pulsing bass synth. A lyric eventually emerges: "Soon your little world will fall apart." A trombone joins the bassoon and strings from the earlier songs, producing a complex texture. The line "all the flowers leave" leads to yet another ominous riff, which then alternates with the tender synth line, now on guitar.
And is the ending happy or tragic? "Too Much, Too Much" returns to the counterculture utopia, opening with major-key guitar strumming and then a synth line that sounds like Seventies Eno. An ethereal hippie vocal proclaims something like "wave your jackets in the air, and wear flowers in your hair!" It is not in the slightest bit sarcastic, it's full-on psychedelic bliss and splendor. It sounds a bit like one of Thurston Moore's gentle Sonic Youth songs. I think the voice repeats "I am dead..." toward the end, though I could be wrong. I take it to be dead as in "Timothy Leary's dead," and we know that he was actually "outside looking in." More like merged with everything, and so not limited to the ego any longer. The song shimmers and gradually fades away.
SISTERWORLD is far better than the band's previous self-titled album of 2007 -- it is one of the best albums of the new millennium so far!
The first four songs are basically an introduction, immersing the listener in an ominous, claustrophobic urban setting. "Scissor" begins with melancholy verses which are interrupted by a loud, aggressive chorus. "No Barrier Fun" is outstanding with prominent cello, violin and viola as well as bassoon. Rattling, clicking percussion are accompanied by rhythmic, bouncing electronic noises, and a xylophone line over the top. "Here Comes All the People" begins with an electric guitar figure which stands out in contrast to the previous track. An ominous (key description for most of the album!) 4-note guitar figure drives the song. The repeated line "carry victims one by one" is the first clear, memorable lyric so far. Which brings me to the fact that I can't suss out most of the lyrics, and there is no lyric sheet anywhere to be found, including online. So I'm sure I'm missing a lot, and I'll share the key lines I can hear. It's all tremendously effective on the level of mood, in any event. The last of the opening songs is "Drip," which is quiet with a clicking snare rim and electronics. The singer eventually asks "when will I awake," and then there is a dramatic piano interlude before the fade.
Now comes the big dramatic moment this has all been building to -- "Scarecrows On a Killer Slant." A strident 4-note rising and falling guitar motif like a siren to a march rhythm opens with a shot. A rap-style vocal, totally different from that on the first four songs, starts indicting someone for "passing a bum on the street." It's not all clear, but eventually he exclaims "Let's take the creeps, stand them in the street, and then kill them all!" There is enough context to assume that it's the white yuppies facing judgement here. It's no right-wing fantasy, quite the contrary, definitely a revenge fantasy of those on the bottom looking up at all the wealth and condescension aimed at them.
"I Still Can See An Outside World" is a poignant interlude. The title says more to me than any lyrics I can understand -- having lived in the central city I can relate to the feeling that it's all buildings and concrete, and the outside world seems remote. This is another song with alternating introspection and a thundering ominous riff.
At this point something totally different and completely unexpected happens, something that I have not seen mentioned in any review of the album anywhere. "Proud Evolution" opens with a utopian Steve Hillage psychedelic guitar riff, followed by a krautrock rhythm with a funky bass line. In other words, we are vaulted from the urban dystopia into a world of enlightened bliss in an instant! This is an incredible song, with the high, keening Hillage-style guitar over the beat, and the repeated chant "Proud evolution, proud evolution, proud evolution..." Yeah, we are evolving, higher and higher, toward ecstasy and unity.
But we don't stay on that plane, we drop back down -- "Drop Dead." Another ominous guitar/synth/drums riff churns away, and the only lyric I've been able to make out is "I'm dying..." It's not morbid, but definitely melancholy. A stunning moment comes right at the end when the guitar shifts to a beautiful pattern of chords and the words "fall from grace" are heard...
Now comes the follow-up to "Scarecrows," "The Overachievers." This song has the clearest vocals on the entire album, though not 100% clear. It opens with a rising 4-note riff and a stomping beat. It is a first-person account of some yuppies who have made so much money they don't have to work anymore -- Silicon Valley millionaires, probably. They "drive a biocar" and "love the Earth" -- "we all surf." Cries of "Help me!" are heard as the narrator explains how "we spend all our time walking in the forest." (Which is the image in the fold-out insert.) The yuppies are bored, though, and cannot be bothered to pay any attention to the poor all around them. So between "Scarecrows" and "Overachievers" the yuppies take a powerful one-two punch. I suspect that this is why a certain influential indie rock website was lukewarm toward this album -- that crew has a strong anti-political slant, and this Liars album has some in-your-face politics!
The last two songs are absolutely beautiful. "Goodnight Everything" is tender and moving, with a synth line over a pulsing bass synth. A lyric eventually emerges: "Soon your little world will fall apart." A trombone joins the bassoon and strings from the earlier songs, producing a complex texture. The line "all the flowers leave" leads to yet another ominous riff, which then alternates with the tender synth line, now on guitar.
And is the ending happy or tragic? "Too Much, Too Much" returns to the counterculture utopia, opening with major-key guitar strumming and then a synth line that sounds like Seventies Eno. An ethereal hippie vocal proclaims something like "wave your jackets in the air, and wear flowers in your hair!" It is not in the slightest bit sarcastic, it's full-on psychedelic bliss and splendor. It sounds a bit like one of Thurston Moore's gentle Sonic Youth songs. I think the voice repeats "I am dead..." toward the end, though I could be wrong. I take it to be dead as in "Timothy Leary's dead," and we know that he was actually "outside looking in." More like merged with everything, and so not limited to the ego any longer. The song shimmers and gradually fades away.
SISTERWORLD is far better than the band's previous self-titled album of 2007 -- it is one of the best albums of the new millennium so far!
11 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music
I have listened to many good albums this year and this one sticks out as the best by a landslide. It is different than anything else you will listen to. So if you like all your music the same, you shouldn't check this out. It is dark, but than again so was OK Computer when it came out. The song climbing up the walls is still one of the most erie songs I've ever heard, and this albums reminds me of that. It makes you think and realize that you are listening to an amazingly moving and powerful band! I saw them open for Radiohead a few years ago, and although they have a very different sound, I would easily call them the "American Radiohead" because they are so unique and different. Like Radiohead, none of their albums are identical, but vastly different. Which is a breath of fresh air. To finally see a band pushing the limits creatively and not going for radio play or to be top 40, which lets face it, generally is horrible music anyway. This is an album I can't stop listening to and won't for a very long time. It is dark, yes, but not depressing at all, and what it pulls off is really a remarkable feat that may not be topped this year!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Audiophile in training
So I am an amateur audiophile, you could say. I know a little bit about a lot of music, but I am always wanting to learn more. Read more
Published on January 26, 2011 by Rita Star
4.0 out of 5 stars
Eclectic
There are moments of brilliance on the album but some spots are
mediocre. The album works as a whole but doesn't compare to their "Drums not Dead" album for example. Read more
mediocre. The album works as a whole but doesn't compare to their "Drums not Dead" album for example. Read more
Published on August 20, 2010 by M. Witcher
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this album! Best of 2010 so far
I love the fact that so many other great musicians were on board to do their version of this Liars album (which is their best to date btw). Read more
Published on March 18, 2010 by Zach Burnside
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