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
