Everything about Liars Band totally explained
Liars is a three-piece American band consisting of Australian-born Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums). Although initially lumped into the New York
post-punk revival scene of the early 21st century, they've come to be categorized by their dramatic stylistic shifts between albums, while retaining a consistent interest in rhythm and sound texture.
History
Formative years
The genesis of the band can be traced to
Los Angeles, where Andrew and Gross were enrolled at
Cal Arts, studying photography and graphic design, respectively. Hemphill had studied
microbiology in Junior College in
San Diego, but was currently employed in LA at a record store. Upon meeting, Andrew and Hemphill began their collaboration on
four-track recordings. Once Andrew had completed art school, they relocated to
New York together. Although Gross wasn't a member of Liars' NYC-period roster, he was often taken along on tour for hawking the merchandise and providing
comedic banter. For the time being, two musicians from
Nebraska, Pat Noecker (bass, formerly of Neuromancer, Urethra Franklin, and Opium Taylor) and Ron Albertson (drums, formerly of Mercy Rule), filled out the band's rhythm section after responding to a well-placed want ad.
New York City days
This line-up (Andrew/Hemphill/Noecker/Albertson) released the first Liars full-length,
They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, in October 2001. The album was recorded in a mere two days. Despite lackluster promotion by their record label,
Gern Blandsten, the energy of the album eventually bought Liars their fair share of hype amidst the much-publicized
Post-punk revival scene of
New York. The band wasn't averse to this attention, but the problem of being pigeonholed (expressed already in the album's title) became an even more pressing challenge for them to overcome.
As a four-piece, Liars were only to release two more short EPs. The first was entitled
We No Longer Knew Who We Were; it was an official release of the bands' early demos recorded in 2000. The second, however, showcased new material.
Fins To Make Us More Fish-Like (November 2002) showed progression from their signature sound, but without any material that would seem significantly out of place on their debut. Most noteworthy, perhaps, is "Every day is a child with teeth," which concentrates more on sound texture and tense, stuttering percussion than the more danceable rhythms for which they'd come to be known.
Line-up changes
Due to differences of creative methods, it was agreed that Noecker and Albertson would leave the band to pursue other work. Both joined the shortlived band No Things. (Noecker is now in These Are Powers). Meanwhile, Andrew and Hemphill reunited with Gross to form the next (and current) incarnation of Liars. The first release from Liars as a three-piece was a split EP with the band
Oneida, called
Atheists, Reconsider (released December 2002 by the
Arena Rock Recording Co.). Liars contributed a cover of Oneida's "Rose and Licorice," as well as two originals. "Dorothy Taps the Toe of the Tinman" is a 7+ minute sound collage of kitchen-sink percussion, ambient drones and static, and cut and paste spoken words. "All in All, a Careful Party" is probably the first characteristically confounding Liars "pop" song. It relies on repetitive, eclectic percussion, non-traditional instrumentation, chant-like vocals, and great attention to sonic texturing.
Witch hunting
This newfound experimentation paved the way for Liars' next full-length album,
They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (recorded in March and May 2003, released February 2004). The band relocated to a cabin in the woods of
New Jersey for the recording sessions, and along with producing visionary
David Andrew Sitek of
TV on the Radio immersed themselves in both non-fiction accounts of witch trials and traditional witch folklore. From these sources, Andrew created a generic fairy tale which is told through contrasting viewpoints in the lyrics. This commitment to the material at the heart of the album - a "story album" (as opposed to "concept album"), according to Andrew - resulted in a thematically rich piece of work that can often feel more atmospheric than musical. To some, the non-traditional instrumentation and song structuring furthers its feel of concept over musicality, along with Sitek's signature harmonies and sound looping. Many critics responded negatively to this aspect of the album, and though it had its fervent supporters, it infamously garnered the lowest possible scores from both
Spin and
Rolling Stone magazines.
Berlin days
Creatively unfazed by the critical response to their unexpected experimental leap, the band relocated once again to
Berlin where they'd eventually record their third full-length,
Drum's Not Dead (recorded in 2004, released February 2006). During the interim between the recording and release of their previous album,
Liars had already begun the work on what would eventually become
Drum's Not Dead. Based on the ideas of
Chris Cutler's electrified drum kit Liars began experimenting with modified drumsounds. After much experimentation (and reportedly an entire album's worth of material
cast aside), the group completed the album in an East German broadcast center that allowed them a multitude of different acoustic environments for recording. As the title suggests, the album is heavy on drums (often run through various effects pedals), backed mostly by atmospheric guitar work. Andrew also relies more heavily
on falsetto than in past work, which gives the album a more ethereal, less gritty sound than is often associated with Liars. Along with the music,
Drum's Not Dead was released with a DVD that contains three full-length video companions to the album: Drum's Not Bread by Julian Gross, The Helix Aspersa by Angus Andrew, and By Your Side by filmmaker Markus Wambsganss.
The rhythmic
electroacoustic experimentalism wasn't only used in the studio set up, but continued in their live performances during the Drum's Not Dead tour. Microphones taped on Gross drum kit and the percussion set of Hemphill picked up the live played rhythms and were modulated heavily
by digital processing
spring reverbs and
pitch shifters forming multi layered
drones. The creation of this set-up is outlined in the CD booklet for
Drum's Not Dead.
Liars
The band officially announced their album
Liars on
May 24,
2007. It was released
August 28,
2007 on
Mute Records.
In support of the album, Liars toured the UK over August 2007, North America over September/October 2007 supporting Interpol, Europe over November/December 2007, North America over January/February 2008 with No Age and May 2008 with Radiohead.
Other musical contributions
Aaron Hemphill also played on
TV on the Radio's song "Blind."
Tunde Adebimpe of
TV on the Radio tells of a humorous experience involving Aaron Hemphill of the
Liars: "
I remember coming home one day and Aaron was on the floor with a guitar, like there were a bunch of pencils in it, and he was tapping on it. I was like, what's he doing? And Dave said (whispers), "Playing something on 'Blind'.''"
Discography
Albums
EPs and singles
Fins to Make Us More Fish-Like (Mute Records, November 2002) - CD EP
Atheists, Reconsider (Arena Rock Recording Co., December 2002) - Split EP (with Oneida) - CD/LP
We No Longer Knew Who We Were - CD/vinyl
There's Always Room On the Broom/Single - CD/vinyl
Split with Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Japan and Australia only) - 7" single
We Fenced Other Gardens With the Bones of Our Own - CD/vinyl single
It Fit When I Was a Kid - CD/vinyl single
The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack - CD/vinyl single
How Many More Times Split with Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta - Fire Records *Keep Mother ' series G-H August 2006 - 10" single
"Plaster Casts of Everything - iTunes Digital EP
Liars Session (Mute Records, October 24th 2007) - 4 tracks available for free download from the link
given on the
"House Clouds - iTunes Digital EPFurther Information
Get more info on 'Liars Band'.
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