Liars

Liars are a Brooklyn-based experimental rock group active since 2000. The line-up includes Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, Julian Gross, Ron Albertson and Pat Noecker. Andrew, who is Australian-born, is the founding and only constant member. Hemphill plays percussion, guitar and synth and leaves the project in 2017, while Gross, the drummer, is no longer able to perform for personal reasons.

Style and background

The band begins in the post-punk and dance-punk climate of New York in the early 2000s, but they soon become known for wide shifts in style from album to album. Their work keeps a strong focus on rhythm and sound texture, and they draw on the late 1970s British post-punk movement as well as art punk, art rock, dance-punk, electronic and experimental rock. Their debut album, They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, comes out in 2002 and has a sound that recalls Delta 5 and Gang of Four, with angular punk, synthesizers and drum machines. The track “We Live Northeast of Compton” is one example of its dance-punk leanings.

The second album, They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, appears in 2004 and moves away from the debut’s more direct post-punk approach towards dissonant atmospheres and electronic soundscapes associated with This Heat. It divides listeners and critics. Drum’s Not Dead follows in 2006 and continues that direction, but receives a stronger critical response. In 2007, the self-titled album Liars shifts again towards 1960s garage rock and 1970s proto-punk, still filtered through a dark, effects-heavy style. It is widely praised and appears on best-of-2007 lists.

Later albums

Sisterworld is released in 2010 and continues their experimental post-punk path. Its deluxe edition includes a remixed version of the album with contributions from Thom Yorke, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead and Carter Tutti. WIXIW follows in 2012 and takes the band in an almost entirely electronic direction. Mess is released in 2017 via Mute Records, and the album TFCF also appears in 2017 after a series of short video clips spells out its title. The Apple Drop follows in 2021.

Across eight studio albums, Liars remain active and are noted for constant reinvention while retaining an interest in rhythm and texture.