Liars - 'They Threw Us All In A Trench & Stuck A Monument On Top' (Mute)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
It's an invigorating feeling to actually hear an album that has the ability to change things. One that combines all that's best about what you love presently, but throws in something so wonderfully off-kilter and out of step that it seems as if you're listening to the future...
'They Threw Us All In A Trench...' is one of those marvellous records that has no reference-point. New York City's Liars are a pretentious, noisy, art-school dance-punk band who have made an album that is minimalist, uncompromising, cold-hearted and, at times, un-listenable. It also happens to be thrillingly daring, loveably mischievous, outrageously good and quite possibly one of the best rock and roll records of 2002.
Whatever they're putting in the water over in NYC, it'd be very kind of them to share the wealth. Until they find a generous side, we'll happily settle for yet another slice of Manhattan talent, but this time delivered with a more cryptic, twisted undercurrent. Just look at the titles - some ridiculous ('Nothing Is Ever Lost Or Can Be Lost My Science Friend'), some amusing ('The Garden Was Crowded, And Outside), and some rather sinister (the brilliant opener 'Grown Men Don't Fall In The River, Just Like That').
From the word go, it's explosive stuff. 'Can you hear us?! We've got our finger on the pulse of America! Call the surgeon!' It's hardly the way to welcome an audience, is it? But its intention is to be anything but. It's a wake-p call, a battle cry, a manifesto of sorts, albeit probably a meaningless one. If this album has any agenda, it's about being a rebel without a cause whilst dancing at the same time. The equally exhaustive 'Mr You're On Fire Mr' follows similar lines, but with a meatier hook and increasingly far-out lyrics. 'Do the twist, Mr Ice Cream!... Whatever you say.
Front-man Angus Andrew seemingly has no idea of the concept of melody, hardly actually singing on the entire album. Thankfully, he knows his way around a good slogan: pick one that's suitably weird, get your band to make some ungodly racket to a funk beat, shout it out repeatedly and people, for some unfathomable reason, will start to move to your sound. Heck, Liars are also capable of having a laugh at your expense - it's impossible not to mention 'This Dust Makes That Mud', a track that for 8 minutes is utterly riveting, all brooding guitars, a strange, screeching blare and lyrics that are now getting to the point of worrisome, but it's when they repeat a four-second loop for what seems an endless twenty-two minutes that it borders on the laughably self-indulgent.
Fundamentally then, this is an album that shows complete disregard for out of date expectations and rules. Thankfully, Liars have created a code of their own that is as compelling as anything that's gone before it. As they say themselves, 'everybody in his or her own life needs a hobby'. Best make Liars a full-on obsession.
Artists in this article: Liars
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment