When Liars first appeared on the New York indie scene at the start of this century/millennium, they were lumped into the burgeoning dance-rock scene, and since then, have seemingly done everything they could to get out of that scene, from the title of their debut 2001 LP, They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top, to making 2004 follow-up They Were Wrong, So We Died so different as to earn the lowest possible ratings from both SPIN and Rolling Stone, and kept going in that less-than-accessible vein. However, with the new Sisterworld, Liars have stopped running, kicked the dance and even electronic completely – and made their most accessible record to-date.
‘Accessible’ is still a relative term when it comes to Liars, and Sisterworld ain’t pop. But the band has amped up their procession, while stripping other effects down, save for a straight echo that makes for a haunting delivery. But there’s also a slamming, hard side to the record, and the two meet in various ways along Liars’ procession. The most impact making is the hard-hitting “Scarecrows On Killer Slant”, and the most cutting is the restrained mumble “No Barrier Fun”. However, it is “Proud Evolution” that is the most effective overall, boring right into the listener with a haunting tribal rhythm that is the best mix of accessible/inaccessible Liars.
This is Liars, however, and not everything could go as well. The strip/hard mix of opener “Scissor” isn’t as inventive as later pieces, and the clang to “Drop Dead” is more off-putting, though still works in its way. The band also strips too far, too often, with “Here Comes All the People” and final two pieces “Goodnight Everything” & “Too Much, Too Much”, a bit boring in the not-good way. Would that there have been less of that, and more of the tracks in the vein of the one preceding “Goodnight”, “The Overachievers”, whose garage-rhythm makes for an upbeat, even fun Liars.
Liars have everything in their bio that would make anyone a ‘divisive’ band – i.e., one that has a handful of die-hard fans, but is hated by everyone else who ever hears them: turning directly against the scene they started in, records considered unlistenable by mainstream publications – they even used to have on bass Pat Noecker, who’s gone on to form the most divisive (read: bad – unless you’re very drunk…) act in the New York indie scene, These Are Powers (QRO album review). But Sisterworld sees Liars abandon the anti-mainstream attitude that can be as oppressive and damaging as any dive into the mainstream, and create their own, haunting World.
