Review: Liars, They Were Wrong So We Drowned

They Were Wrong So We Drowned might be a train wreck, but it seems that’s what the Liars were going for.

Liars, They Were Wrong So We DrownedThe Liars’ major label debut, They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, made the band a favorite among hipsters and critics eager to discover the next big thing. The album’s sound was described variously as art-punk, neo-garage, electroclash, bizarre pop, and schizophrenic dance. The Liars’s follow-up, They Were Wrong So We Drowned, is all of that and more, building on the weirdness of their debut but sometimes taking the experimentalism a bit too far. The hooks that dotted their debut have been replaced by abrasive sound effects and incessant vocal repetition. Human ears should never be subjected to the gruesome “If Your a Wizard, Then Why Do You Wear Glasses?” and some of the songs are purposely difficult and just generally aimless. But despite all this, there’s something about the screeching electronics and excessive repetition of songs like “Broken Witch” and “Hold Hands and It Will Happen Anyway” that’s extremely appealing; the songs are so bizarre, they’re hard to turn off. Singer Angus Andrew takes a shot at falsetto on the lead single “There’s Always Room on the Broom,” and his so-ugly-they’re-beautiful vocals manage to overcome the grating noises that suffocate much of the rest of the album. They Were Wrong So We Drowned might be a train wreck, but it seems that’s what the Liars were going for, and that’s what keeps it at least somewhat engaging.

Score: 
 Label: Mute  Release Date: February 24, 2004  Buy: Amazon

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