Out July 12 - Cascine

1- Take Me Anywhere
2- Antibo
3- Tangier Woods
4- Night Is Young
5- Grande Comore
6- Meridian

STREAM: Night Is Young 

words: Jamie Milton
scribed for The Line Of Best Fit

Seeing !!! (chk chk chk) come out of the three years following 2007’s Myth Takes with a darker product doesn’t come as much of a surprise. They have, after all, had their fair share of difficult dealings. Jerry Fuchs, one-time drummer and regular collaborator, came to a sudden death, falling through an elevator shaft in Brooklyn. A subsequent disbanding wouldn’t have come as a great surprise. But Nic Offer and co. chose instead to head to Berlin, immersing themselves in a darker club scene than previously experienced, and putting the unique feel of the city’s nightlife on record.

Now, a quick flight to Berlin can sometimes feel like an easy move. Not so long ago the-now-no-more London group The Rakes chose to dismiss their city’s music scene as virtually non-existent, before taking camp in a Berlin studio and recordingKlang! Whatever impact the city may have had on the band, results didn’t rub off or transpire to the listener. On the other hand there’s Liars, whose 2006 tour de force Drum’s Not Dead was evidently half Liars, half Berlin, re-focusing the band to such an extent that it most likely inspired the recent dirge of acts in flocking to Europe, expecting similar results.

Strange Weather, Isn’t It? takes little from the feel-good, full-on sonic experience ofMyth Takes. The dark atmospherics - crafted within Berlin - and subtle recording techniques present the band turning a new leaf and altering their songwriting craft. Where the previous record hits you with a wall of noise, the latest effort is more withdrawn, to both its advantage and disadvantage…

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“Jerry Fuchs, one-time drummer and regular collaborator, came to a sudden death, falling through an elevator shaft in Brooklyn. A subsequent disbanding wouldn’t have come as a great surprise.”

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Several listens on, you’ll still find yourself discovering minor intricacies of songs that didn’t emerge beforehand. Strange Weather… is that kind of record; taking pride in devilishly branding itself as an art piece instead of a collection of songs and revelling in the studio experience. Lead single ‘Am/Fm”s melody isn’t the most enchanting, nor is it the catchiest of songs, but repeated listening leads to an appreciation of the finer details; the restless, diverse bass line; the growling, warped synths, ever-present throughout.

Much of what follows is similarly-inclined and consequently, there’s little in the way of a stand-out track or a centrepiece. ‘The Most Certain Sure’ comes closest, its funk-disco feel and chant of “It’s a good day/ it’s a good day” going against the fundamental, lurid quality that much of the record defines itself with.  Perhaps the influence of Germany’s largest, most diverse city isn’t as apparent as it could have been. And for some reason or another, it’s had its part in removing the confidence and zeal from previous works. ‘Steady As The Sidewalk Cracks’ on paper, is a beautiful blend of the finer moments on ‘Myth Takes’; a poignant chorus; a saxophone solo; haunting build-up work. But put simply, it doesn’t have the same impact. It requires the raucous feel to the live shows and the shamelessness of the last record, but both go amiss.

The club scene shows its presence in the form of sampled house vocals in ‘Wannagain Wannagain’ and the appropriately minimal ‘Hollow’. Saxophone parts also assist in giving the record a unique brand. But if the press releases had chosen not to refer to the move to Berlin, it’s questionable as to whether anybody would identity such a shift in sound. The end product is something uninspired, lacking in the immodesty and ruthlessness that first exposed the band as one of a kind.

5.9

Words: Gareth O’Malley

Okay, so this is really a concept album. If that’s turned you off ‘Sisterworld’ already, I implore you, read on. You’ll find it’s not at all a bad thing. Formerly based in New York, but now with a new headquarters of sorts in Berlin, ‘experimental’ (and god, how I loathe that term) rock tri o Liars are back with their fifth record, and while it won’t win any prizes for immediately, it is, for lack of a better word, an absolute belter.

The band have said that, thematically, the record deals with ‘the alternate spaces people create in order to maintain identity in a city like L.A. Environments where outcasts and loners celebrate a skewered relationship to society.’ What this all means is that ‘Sisterworld’ is rather Los Angeles-centric, and thus the album is obviously rather difficult to connect with if you don’t live there.

Music is the universal language, however, and if ‘Sisterworld’ doesn’t provoke some sort of response within you, then I’d be rather worried. Things quite often move into frightening territory - the focus is on krautrock soundscapes whose primary objective is to unsettle the listener. And the result of all this is something thrilling and chilling in equal measure.

Lead single ‘Scissor’ grows from an a capella opening into an explosive workout, frontman Angus Andrew’s buzzsaw riffs and high-pitched, keening vocals giving the track a real sense of urgency, even desperation.

There isn’t a whole lot of potential single material on here, but surely ‘No Barrier Fun’ will be considered to promote the album. Its combination of funky bass, ghostly strings and subtle yet effective percussion courtesy of Julian Gross is rather stunning, and the track sends out the message that Liars have set their sights high.

The spiky, frenetic post-punk of ‘Here Comes All The People’ ratchets the tension up a further few notches. You wonder just how intense the record is going to become, and then are offered a welcome breather in the form of the dreamy, ethereal ‘Drip’.

Then you realise that all along the band were looking to lull you into a false state of security, as the absolutely terrifying ‘Scarecrows On A Killer Slant’ kicks in. A visceral four minutes, the track rails against the culture of violence that has spead throughout L.A. The venom in Andrew’s voice as he sings is truly unnerving, as he calmly delivers the lines, ‘We should drag the creeps out at night / Drag ‘em in complete by their ears / We should nail their guns to the wall’, before exploding in a vehement fit of rage: ‘Stand them in the street with a gun. and then kill ‘em all!’

The track is a clear highlight, simply because of its ferocity and passion that is unequalled on any other track here. ‘Proud Evolution’ opens with a chiming, shimmering riff, before being underpinned by bass and clattering drums. The lyrics here deserve particular attention, Andrew mentioning the ‘hundred million potholes you can step in without knowing that you have’ before warning that ‘you should be be careful’. The line is understated. but in the context of the album it is tremendously effective.

The sarky, ironic ‘The Overachievers’ opens ‘Sisterworld”s closing trio of songs, the band having a go at what is quite literally ‘slacker rock’: ‘There wasn’t much to do, so we just sat in watching TV / And smoked weed’. Its presence sets up the penulatimate track, the menacing, riff-driven ‘Goodnight Everything’, perfectly, before things draw to a close with ‘Too Much, Too Much’, whose ambient tones finish the record in an unexpectedly calm fashion.

Nor will ‘Sisterworld’ win any awards for immediacy. However, this album is the best kind: one you have to immerse yourself in - and not just because it’s a concept record. Plus it makes it so much better when things finally start to click, and this dark, forbidding, yet brilliant record begins to open up.

8.7

mp3: Scissor