A record I first reviewed in 2003 for my Sixth Form newspaper 'Sixth Sense'. I can't find the review anywhere but I remember comparing the closer 'The Dust That Makes The Mud' to actual mud, dragging you in with the rain pouring down... Which was mildly clever, as the track chugs along and clocks in at over 30 minutes. And it's all those filthy basslines and sinsiter guitars.
I first heard Liars in 2002 on the 2nd Sonic Mook Experiment compilation ('Future Rock And Roll' - most certainly still avalible and highly recomended). I was reeeeally into the new rock and roll thing NME made up. And Liars were one of those bands. They were from the healthy New York scene (which also included The Strokes, The Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and very much embodied the New York spirit. Low dow dirrrty guitars, arty rythms, and streetwise vocals. However what makes Liars stand out to me now is where they have taken that sound. So even on thier debut it is clear they were a little more musicaly insane than most of thier contemporaries.
To draw a comparison of a band you may know. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Heavily linked with them(in more ways than just musicaly - the lead singers of each band dated for a long time), they even surpased that noise intense outfit for art rock madness. Thier music sounds like it's more than the alienating skyscrapers and urban sprawl of New York City. It seems to be suggesting the organic. That the buildings and tarmac are part of a long standing relationship between man and the earth. These themes are built on in thier 'wican-tastic' second record 'They Were Wrong So We Drowned', but they were set up here. Forgotten history, over grown gardens, ruined buildings - all these images are conjoured up.
The artwork, a white blank art gallery wall, with thin black lines, and the odd blob (of congelaed blood?) I remember another phrase from my orginal review 'The Strokes this aint'. Yes a much darker, more noisy option Liars were. The rythms are hypnotic, especialy on 'Nothing Is Ever Lost Or Can Be Lost My Science Friend'. That bass (punk funk anyone?), those sampled drum pedals. The cascade of the guitar. Repetition. Monotonus, even... In these multi-coloured days of 'New Rave', this mariage of punk and dance is that one of the cousin you never really liked, so who cares if no-one goes to the wedding. What you mean is that you were secretly afraid of this cousin and they scared you because of the way they wore thier make up.
Flitting between paraonid recolections of New Yorks clubs the night before and imaginary spaces of emotion, the record delivers to anyone who wishes thier music to be arty not melodious. I wish the rise of The Gossip and the like WOULD point towards bands like Liars. Who deserve the attention New Rave is getting. Surely this was a forerunner of that. But in New York's dark 2002 garage-esc, new no-wave scene, how could they possibly have seen this. And I suppose New Rave would've happened anyway. And I suppose Liars couldn't care less if Klaxons liked them. Liars were seperating the "boys from the men" as singer Angus sinisterly suggests on 'Nothing Is Ever Lost..'
That they did.
But no-one really noticed.
9/10
1 comment:
well i read it!
you should really save it in word and re-read it the next day before posting it dude, way too many spelling errors to forgive. and NEVER use yr instead of your.
and you use really weird references like cousins and marriage which make no sense that i can see.
maybe make them clearer, the test being whether someone without any idea about the band could still get the jist or not.
i do like the evocative language you use, but i feel you get a little too chatty and way too easy with exclamtion marks.
i did learn something about bands i've never heard of, so well done and i think i get what you're saying about their styles and.. well that stuff.
i can see you doing this for a living, so keep it up.
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