I’ll never forget the first time I heard Liars. A boy I was dating played me about 10 seconds of Broken Witch, off their sophomore album, They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, then quickly turned it off saying “I won’t make you listen to that,” implying that it was too odd or abrasive for my fragile mind. Of course I scurried home to download, err… buy, the album and listen to it on repeat for the next 3 weeks.

With the release of this NY art-punk trio’s 4th LP, I’ve spent many days (weeks) trying to decipher what the theme behind this new, self-titled album could be – assuming that the band would be putting out another in their series of brilliant concept-driven masterpieces.

Recently, in an interview with Billboard.com, frontman Angus Andrews explained that the new release is in fact a pop album, focusing more on guitar solos and singable lyrics than continuing in their less-accessible, dissonant vein. Andrews is quoted as saying “This is the record that will connect with more people the most directly…Liars fans are really tough and we've pulled them through a lot of difficult stuff, so this is like our gift to them."

Personally, this is not a gift that I’m happy to receive. The songs are enjoyable and some of them are reminiscent of their older work, but track 2 sounds like it belongs on Sea Change (another disappointing release from a brilliant musician, in my opinion) and, overall, Liars just lacks the passion and avant-garde edginess of their past work. Now they’re touring with Interpol and being featured on Myspace. I still recommend listening, because there is much to love about the Liars’ sound and many of these songs, but as the old saying goes: “I liked
their old stuff better.”

Liar's Myspace
Official Site