Liars – They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top (Blast First/Mute Records)
As Abraham Lincoln so famously said, “People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” If you like po-mo pseudo punk that seems a lot more clever than it really is, and sounds good in the clubs, this is for you. I thought it was kind of boring, myself.
Based on the CD title, I was expecting some ferocious, angry agit-prop noise that was going to bitchslap me for being part of the problem, like an even angrier version of International Noise Conspiracy. Instead I got wankeriffic art-noise that sounds like Sonic Youth with a sampler. I ended up listening to Dirty instead. You will, too.
MP3 of Mr Your on Fire Mr available via their site. Buy it from Amazon.
This was, for my money, the best new sound/CD of the year. These guys are playing with rythyms like no one else. All the great garage rock thrilled me but this had the speed, the volume, and a little something new. It’s beat jerks you around and the lyrics, altho totally incoherent grow on you like a good guitar riff, and you’ll find yourself running some pretty bizarre phrases through your head. At times it’s a little bit of a mess, but if you can get past that, you’ll find it’s very multi-dimensional for today’s rock. If you want the old tried-and-true go for Sonic Youth, or you can get way into this rocking new sound.
this album is brilliant, though I can understand it could sound like other punk rock groups you have already heard. Their greatness is in their capability of musical synthesis. Yes, there is new-punk, Sonic Youth, noise, but the result of the pot is superb.. Give it at least a try.
this is half of a great album, and 1/3rd unlistenable. but the good outweighs the bad in this case.
great base licks and funky drums with hollered mostly unintelligible lyrics that none the less let you know that these kids might actually think about something, this is really refreshing amoung the host of albums trying to ride the coattails of the strokes/stripes/hives