The turn of the century saw an explosion of underground musical activity over in the states( especially in New York, and Brooklyn in particular) The bands that were part of this supernova also seemed to defy expectations by shape shifting at a rapid rate (think Black Dice, Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance), and it was almost impossible to predict what an outfit’s next album or EP would sound like. The only thing certain is that it would be daring and that it would have journalists throw terms such as ‘cutting edge’ around with reckless abandon. It was an exciting time for underground music with new, young bands delivering gold standard work.
These bands have matured now and are, one can say, old hands and part of the avant-establishment. Some have become almost pop, such as Animal Collective, and enjoy something that could almost be described as mainstream success. Others, such as Black Dice, have streamlined their sound into something that definitely isn’t pop (although maybe it is by their standards), with their latest album Mr Impossible sounding very succinct and direct, even though it’s still clearly the product of a very wayward and radical combo. Liars fall somewhere between these two, never becoming as potentially commercial as Animal Collective, though also reigning in any goofball elements that Black Dice still seem happy to flaunt.
And so we come to their new album WIXIW. What strikes you about this work on first listen is how heavily and self-consciously electronic it sounds. It’s like a Liars album except with lotsa synth sounds on it. This may sound glib at first but there just seems to be something tacked on about this latest ‘twist’ in their sound. This isn’t to say it’s a bad album, it isn’t. However, it isn’t a great one either, and there is something painfully dated about certain elements that hark back to the heady days when people would wonder at the crossing over of indie/rock/(insert label) and ambient techno. The days when guitar bands were queueing up to let Richard James remix one of their songs and Seefeel sounded like the freshest thing on earth. This was a long time ago, the early 90s in fact, and there is something quite baffling about this sound resurfacing today; especially on a Liars album.
“His and Mine Sensations” and “Flood to Flood” are improvements, bringing to mind great Liars moments from the past, but again one can’t help wishing for these tracks to have had more substance to their production. There is no doubt that more texture has entered the fray with these songs; “Flood to Flood”‘s drums and synth refrain give it a 21st century native American rain dance feel to it and “His and Mine Sensations” is simply a great Liars track. They say goodbye with a track that’s like a lite version of “Proud Evolution,” or a cleaned up outtake from Drums Not Dead, which kind of says it all really.
Unsatisfying.
-Jay Harper-
