Liars - Liars

Genre rock Publisher Mute Records External Links Official Liars Website Official Mute Records Website

The only thing you can really expect when approaching a new record by Liars, is to know that your expectations will not be met. Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, and Julian Gross have built a critically-acclaimed career out of shattering preconceptions of what a Liars album should sound like. After riding to hipster fame on the back of 2001's new rock revolution with the punk-funk heavy They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, the band left fans and critics dumbfounded with a second album that delved noisily into witchcraft and sound collage. And just as those shell-shocked fans began to come around to the harsh new sound, Liars took another left turn and delivered 2006's outstanding Drum's Not Dead which found them trading in the guitar noise for carefully sculpted percussion landscapes. And that brings us to their self-titled fourth album and more crushed expectations.

The pre-release buzz would have you believe that Liars was going to be one of those "return to form" albums that (usually) end up as half-assed attempts to recreate an earlier style. Thankfully this was nothing of the sort. This batch of eleven songs may be a little more "rock" oriented and accessible than anything off the last two discs, but they are far from a step backwards. Tracks like the trip-hop, doom-laden "Sailing to Byzantium" (check those G-Funk keys!) and the hauntingly dark "Leather Prowler" continue the band's obsession with sonic texture. Both are unmistakably Liars through and through, but hint at as yet unexplored corners of their collective minds. The band also spends some time exploring rhythm in rather unexpected ways, whether with the hip-hop beat of "Houseclouds" or with the drum machine (really!) of the sweetly nostalgic "Protection".

Liars seem to be having a lot of fun exploring a number of different directions this time around, free from the self-imposed structural constraints of their more concept heavy releases. The Batman theme biting guitar solo and mini rap breakdown of "Clear Island" will attest to that. A pair of tracks near the middle of the album, which must be the cause of these "return to rock" rumors, also reflect the band's loosened approach. The monster riff that signals the onslaught of "Cycle Time" readies them for the arena tour they'll never take, while "Freak Out" (the greatest surf rock anthem of 2007) contains the biggest, boldest hook the band has ever committed to tape. This free-flowing, open-ended approach not only seems to help the band relax and branch out, but it also makes for an exciting listen.

I think few fans would have expected these guys to follow up two thematically rigid albums with such a loose, and sometimes fun, collection of individual exercises free of construct. That this approach still results in such a wonderfully compelling album demonstrates exactly why this is one of the few truly essential rock bands making music right now. Chalk this one up as their fourth great album in a row, but don't get too many expectations about where they will go from here - you're bound to be disappointed. But I think it is safe to expect one thing from the Liars on album number five, expect it to be one hell of a ride.