The Liars - Drum's Not Dead (2006)

I think the notion that the band isn't inspired and doesn't really believe in what they're doing is not remotely valid ("It sounds joyless and monotonous and uninspired, as if they bored even themselves to death while making it."--Melissa); they're obviously very into um, drums, as their evolution as a band has taken them in a more and more rhythm-centric direction.

Perhaps Melissa is wrong. Maybe they were, in actuality, quite excited whilst recording this album. However, I think the point remains that that excitement, if indeed it was present, didn't translate/reflect onto anything in terms of exploring different sonic possibilities. It's a very limited palette, and, as Dominique pointed out, the resulting sketches are unremarkably simplistic.

For the people who don't like this album, what would you put on instead?
Anything else. ;-)

hmm, not comparing sonics (which I might regard as a stylistic element - god I sound like an alien to myself sometimes), it's hard to compare forms and content to other records, chiefly because, like I posted earlier, I don't tend to listen to records that don't seem interesting to me formally, at least a little bit. If we're talking big blocks of structure, big blocks of interraction that don't necessarily evolve or change over time, or are particularly interesting in their own rights, maybe I could say I'd put on the last Orthrelm record. Obviously this is worlds away, stylistically speaking, from the Liars record, but it does involve big, basically simple chunks of monolothic, not extremely inventive forms as a matter of construction. Why I find OV a lot more interesting is 1) because its "parts" seem to pass by quickly (even though in reality, they don't - in fact, it's a very *slow* record in the respect that it takes a long time for different stuff to happen - itself a neat "trick"), so I don't have tons of time to contemplate on its relatively static forms, and 2) it uses its form against itself - that is, it's blasting along for 45 minutes, seemingly never changing (but actually changing), and rather than get bored, I'm lulled ever closer to the smallest details of what's happening. The "big blocks" of activity, of sound, no longer seem like blocks, but of circuits or coastlines or equations that beg to be deconstructed, to be tracked inch by inch. In that light, it seems ultra-intense, unlike my experience with Drum's Not Dead, which is ironically a pretty dead, uneventful experience.

but to be honest, I haven't lived with Liars' record anywhere near as long as I've lived with OV. I was initially drawn to OV just because I thought it sounded cool, and not having that draw with Drum's Not Dead is a big disadvantage

Dom, my complaint on this one isn't to do with accusing these bands of laziness or ease or insufficient meddling (the "presets" issue). I am not against transparency; I'm just not sure that transparency alone excites me. And I do feel like certain acts these days deconstruct their sound to that point of transparency, and deconstruct their form to the point of chaos, and then on some level there's not much left to appreciate. Possibly it's that they believe in formal chaos as an end in itself, which I'm not sure I do; typically when I like something "chaotic" it's because the chaos seems like a side-effect of struggling to create an entirely new kind of "form" (and because it sets that "form" into really stark relief).

This is definitely a side/tangent issue to Liars, though.

Yeah, I'm not new to that concept, that's why I used the qualifier "particularly." Also, do we really want to admit that any discussion of this stuff is pointless?

"Perhaps Melissa is wrong. Maybe they were, in actuality, quite excited whilst recording this album. However, I think the point remains that that excitement, if indeed it was present, didn't translate/reflect onto anything in terms of exploring different sonic possibilities. It's a very limited palette, and, as Dominique pointed out, the resulting sketches are unremarkably simplistic."--you

"They seem very interested in their subject matter and I think they communicate their interest well, I buy into the whole atmosphere of the album, but whether or not someone else does might be entirely subjective, I'm not sure."--me
I don't think simplicity makes it seem less inspired or unremarkable, I could just as easily say its very "focused."

Also, I think it's weird that you'd say there is no "tension/release," because it seems to me that tension and release is a big part of the album.

it is, for me, quite a primal thing: matt mcever sums it up neatly. there are moments where almost nothing is happening, but fuck me: i love the way it happens. or doesn't. if you see what i mean.

i need to watch the films. the third one especially.

yes. they're great!

No, you summed it up quite well. And no, there is nothing "experimental" about this. In fact, that's a part of the problem. It's just... such a nonentity.

i'll probably be back in a month gushing about how much i love this band, knowing me.

I reckon though that it's all gonna click and I'm gonna love this album one day.

Liars are more like a happy medium to me and not 'difficult' to appreciate/enjoy at all!

I don't think this record fully delivers on it's promise as an album however (it's the "songs" mainly) but I'm glad I heard it, because they don't sound lazy, and DO sound like a band who could actually take rock forward to somewhere... and that's a bit of a rare quality right now.

Maybe it seems like an attempt at primitivism or naivity that comes across incredibly mannered and inauthentic & deliberately "ooh weird & childish" about it all (yes I know there's rockism in there).

By contrast (to the music) the fairly average male rock guy voices of Liars come across as oddly refreshing!

I very much doubt I've heard enough of AC's ouvre to be certain about all this though.

Has anybody heard the new Young People? I'm really digging it right now, it's a sister to Drum's Not Dead — carefully plotted, spare, lots of tribal thrumping, creepy vibey. The two records sound GREAT back-to-back.

that's funny. listening to it with people last night who hadn't heard it yet, the comments all were along the lines of "when did beck join black dice?" and "so, these guys have been hanging out with the animal collective, huh."

have you guys heard ft(The Shadow Government)? their album Guns of August I could see appealing to Liars fans...