Liars (CD - 2007)

Personnel: Jeremy Glover (bass guitar).

Audio Mixer: Gareth Jones .

Recording information: Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA; Planet Roc, Berlin, Germany.

Photographer: Paul Drake.

Since their 2001 debut, THEY THREW US ALL IN A TRENCH AND STUCK A MONUMENT ON TOP, experimental rock outfit Liars have moved from trendy post-punk to drone-based tribal freak-outs, hitting all points in between. "Plaster Casts of Everything," the first single from the band's fourth album, finds Liars harnessing their primal psychedelia to a propulsive punk-edged drive. The song, which has a chaotic, thumping drum pattern anchor the groove while a guitar churns relentlessly on a one-chord vamp, suggests that the band was getting back to rock basics with their 2007 self-titled full-length.

Elsewhere, as on the Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired "Freak Out," or the new wave-tinged, keys-driven "Protection" (arguably one of the band's most melodic songs ever), Liars make an overt move toward pop accessibility. But LIARS is no pop cash-in: the band swerves from style to style, layering dissonant vocals, guitars, and ambient sound effects to uphold their heady experimental m.o. The result is another gem in this progressive band's discography, and will likely unite fans of the band's more straightforward early sound and their subsequent avant leanings. minimize