Customer Reviews

They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Indie rock is too durn nice these days. Time was when the Jesus Lizard, Girls Against Boys, Ed Hall (local Austin faves), and pretty much the entire rosters of the AmRep and Touch and Go labels spewed out caustic guitar slop with BITE (not to mention bad intentions). I dug early Pavement as much as the next irony overdose, but the legions that took their tunefulness into saccharine territory throughout the nineties too often didn't have the good sense to back their angst with noise and punch. I soon tuned out the faux-cleverness and self-pity, and my horizons soon receded into the infinite. So as you can imagine, it takes a little extra "oomph" for a rock band to grab my attention these days, and the Liars serve up a satisfying mix of jump-up-and-swing-your-guitar-neck energy, textured noise, and crusty innovation.
Gang of Four.
There, I got that ubiquitous comparison out of the way. Sure, there's more than a little "Entertainment!" in "They Threw Us", but these guys are much more raw and lo-fi. At the same time, they're also more high-tech: reglur ol' drums are augmented by cheap-butt drum machine. The rhythms are bouncy, but any other nods to electronica are embodied in the loop-y aesthetic of the music. Guitar and bass play repetetive minor-key figures, often falling just a smidgen behind or ahead of the boxed beats (but just enough to give the music a resolutely rock thrust.) The singer has the post-Mark E Smith/John Lydon snarl down, and when ewverything gets pushed into the red, well kids, we're in post-punk psychopath country.
In the Tradition, but far from derivative, the best thing about the Liars is the fact that there's nothing cowering or tentative about their music. Sure, it's a tad sloppy and apathetic at times, but those qualities are always hitched to a turbo-charged "something else" that refuses to let up. If you want blood, you got it.

If you've ever wondered what would happen if you put gang of four, the faint, can, and a dash of drive like jehu into a cement mixer, this is your chance to find out.
It's amazing that with such an obvious GOF influence, this band still comes off sounding completely fresh. Liars are one of a small number of bands that over the last few years has helped remind me that rock's got plenty of room to grow. descriptive words:aggressive, churning, bored/infuriated. For those of you who scoff at interpol's inability to recreate joy division's sense of extreme urgency, this is your band. I read in an interview that their modus operandi is to figure out what people love about their music, and eliminate those aspects from their next batch of songs. If this is true, they'll have to start from scratch for their next effort, because there are too many great things about this album to count.

It's wide open for you, and quietly awaiting your entrance, as four imaginary boys pound on their chests and on their guitar strings, not particularly caring if you're listening, but if you're there, screw you anyhow. The guitar chords will continue to scratch and sing to their own divided melodies no matter what you do, so you might as well accept the Liars for who and what they are: liars. They will always be this way, and they've had enough of you for dissenting. Just turn on their damn music and boogie down.

Certainly, it's not the highest art (or perhaps it is, and the wool has merely been pulled over our eyes), the Liars succeed in the way that Coleman's "Free Jazz" succeeded: by creating complete and utter chaos around the listeners ears. What seem to be cohesive riffs soon turn into some other form of utter nothingness, and you are merely comforted perhaps by a few electronic skitters, or by a voice, telling you, as always, to WAKE UP. They've got their finger on the pulse of America, and who would let go?

Smart-arsed and ready to blow your mind, the Liars have crafted a fine work. Despite its seemingly amelodic intentions, there manages to be fine examples of melody in songs such as "We live NE of Compton" and "Grown men dont fall in the river, just like that." And then, of course, there are songs you can endlessly dance to, such as "Mr your on fire Mr." They even manage to find a moment of quiet daring on "Why Midnight walked but didn't ring her bell," though, clocking in at 59 seconds, it can only be considered a "moment."

And then there's "this dust makes that mud"... which is primarily the defining point in the record, either making you a Liars fan or a detractor. The song itself runs on for a good eight minutes, and suddenly, the Liars decide to leave the studio for a while (perhaps for some coffee... who knows?) and leave the tape (and the 4-second loop) running for 22 more minutes. Call it overlong, call it masturbatory, call it testing their limits. All I know is, if I stop in the middle of the damn loop and switch CDs, I feel strangely incomplete. And that's how they want you to feel. Or they don't care, and it's really a joke. All that matters is whether you "get it" or not.

I don't get it, but somehow I love it anyhow. Because even if it is a joke, it is a joke made with somewhat rebellious intentions, and far be it for me to love music on its rebellious nature, but that's what I find myself doing with this album. It remains the perfect soundtrack of chaos and destruction, a breaking down of borders. It's been done before, but who said we didn't need it again?

WOW is all I have to say to this album, I saw this band live before I even heard the album and I rushed to grab a copy of this CD. It's been a while since I've listened to a CD with so much energy that it totally gave me a rush! Yes, this band is original, I have no idea why some people say they aren't. Obviously they have influences like any other band, but the final product is something refreshing. I'd say they are one of the more promising NYC bands. Go check them out live as well, they put on a great show.

Take the energy of ten bands and pack it into a half hour cd (not counting the drone at the end.) The songs slay, you can dance to nearly every track, there is more personality than a schitzo convention, and the production makes it sound like they are playing in a basement. This does not leave the cd player. The titles make little sense, and the lyrics are funny. It is all very good.

don't put one genre into such a small box. There's a lot more to it than you think.
Great band and album, try some Beatnik Filmstars if you're really into this.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the liars open for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and quite honestly, found the liars more entertaining than the headliner. (Probably had something to do with the terrible sound for JSBX).
Stage presence was definitely key in hooking most of the audience, and hooked we were. Watching the chaotic frenzy on stage definitely made one believe that independent music can be creative and thought provoking, yet not melodramatic in presentation. (i.e. every horrible independent emo band...) The band did not present itself as jaded, going nowhere, imperialistic 'indie rockers'. They created art for art's sake on stage, and made it entertaining. Quite impressive.
The album further displays this artistic ability, however the live performance was definitely better. The album definitely (as pointed out in other reviews) is derivative of other artists. Gang of four and Mike Patton projects (ie: Tomohawk, Bungle) definitely spring into mind. However, this is to be expected in the studio, simply because of the ability to edit and mix tracks. This does not smear the attempt at creativity on the record, but is simply not as enhanced as witnessing the performance firsthand.

it's so sad to see people give this album one star for lack of originality. sure there are the obvious comparisons and the whole brash lo-fi punkish thing has been done "to death." but hey, are we looking for originality all the time? it's damn near impossible to continue to be inventive after millions of artists and musicians. and the funny thing is, Liars aren't even half as cliched as some of the other music out there. oh opinions . . .

anyway, regardless of originality, the album is full speed ahead, funkish, dancish, flail about music. somewhat mechanical, somewhat artsy. but it's almost like a big joke spitting out from the speakers. a great hilarious package of dark humor. yes, liars are daring you to like them, and that's the fun part. and the twenty minutes of a four second loop at the end of the album . . . that's gutsy and almost brilliant.

who are we kidding? this music isn't for us. i think the only thing we can do is listen and marvel or thrash about while liars do their own quirky thing. criticism doesn't really work . .

Probably the best album of its kind since Gang of Four's Entertainment! Forget Franz Ferdinand, the Futureheads, Bloc Party, and the virtually countless other bands ripping off Go4; this is fantastic. Liars are probably the only band doing this formula right AND nailing the attitude that should go along with it. Great stuff for the post-punk fan who's less than thrilled as to where the style's heading.

If you buy this album, you'll have to let it sink in for a wihle. It gets better the more you listen to it. The actual album part is only about 20 minutes long and the last song is half an hour of boring-this is the biggest problem with the CD: it's too short. I wanted more. I wasn't too impressed at first but now I love it. More, need more.

Buy the new YYYs album also (Fever to Tell 4.29.03!).