Buy Now
| Buy on |
|
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
May 1, 2014For a group that's never settled down, Mess could be described as Liars' comfort zone.
-
Apr 30, 2014All of Mess has an enjoyably menacing feel that will prove inviting to Liars fans and new listeners alike.
-
MagnetApr 18, 2014The alterations and differences may be slighter and more comparable to alt-music's lexicon, but that's bound to happen after a decade and a half. Still, the redefinition continues, and so does the compelling art. [No. 108, p.51]
-
Apr 14, 2014They’re still nodding to early Pop synthesizer proponents (The Human League, Fad Gadget, A Broken Frame era Depeche Mode), and now mixing in a beefed-up, contemporary EDM blast with the je ne sais quoi that the group infuses into everything it touches.
-
Apr 7, 2014Its lyrics, though often hard to discern in the mumbles, start to get to the core of what Mess is all about--trying to find some sort of peace in this anxiety-breeding world.
-
Apr 4, 2014Here, they reach for a macabre death-disco vibe.
-
Mar 31, 2014The pace rarely drops and, at points, the noise and structure is, indeed, messy, but the whole is punka focused collection with a bloody-minded, if also bloody-nosed, vision throughout.
-
The WireMar 28, 2014Mess is more immediate than the past couple of albums, and in context, more baffling. [Mar 2014, p.63]
-
Mar 28, 2014Mess is characteristically confident and brash, but humane and enduring. In short, it’s up there with the rest of their unerringly brilliant back-catalogue.
-
Mar 28, 2014Even if it's not quite as striking an achievement as WIXIW, it's a lot of fun and shows, once again, that Liars are unquestionably themselves no matter how much they push their boundaries.
-
Mar 27, 2014The album feels less ponderous and more balls-out than its predecessor, but the band hasn’t stitched up its maniacal tendencies into commercial pop either.
-
Mar 27, 2014Mess gets caught in an odd trap in that it’s neither patient nor nimble.
-
Mar 26, 2014On Mess, surface is meaning, with the album’s vacuous hedonism merely another expression of the theme of spiritual oblivion that Liars have explored ever since their debut.
-
Mar 26, 2014Their meh generation, “shouting lager lager” take on four-on-the-floor energy is starting to wear a bit thin.
-
Mar 25, 2014The group deftly submits to the forms and tropes of electro-pop and vintage EBM.
-
Mar 25, 2014Sonically, the capricious trio has brought about a fresh positive energy while still delving into the darkness that has always been present throughout their career.
-
Mar 25, 2014Its coda features a lone, breathy synth that unfurls like a tattered flag planted high atop a snow-covered peak, and, like the band’s best work, the song is comparable to little else in the pop/indie landscape—a far cry from the tepid feel that permeates too much of this Mess.
-
Mar 25, 2014Where WIXIW was the intricately ordered product of a hundred thousand small decisions, Mess is a sloppy, outward-turned--and, it has to be said, uneven--quagmire built with the kind of swagger that dares you to use its own title against it.
-
Mar 25, 2014As the trio continue to remould and refine their craft, Mess, an album fuelled by impulse, demonstrates their ideological core hasn’t moved an inch.
-
Mar 25, 2014More than anything, Mess is impactful commentary about the contemporary tendency to consume culture passively.
-
Mar 25, 2014They’ve created what is without a doubt their least innovative and least gloriously messy album. It’s a testament to the sturdy identity underneath the surface that the result is great nonetheless.
-
Mar 24, 2014Mess’ is characterised by synths and distorted beats. But unlike the often self-doubting and timid ‘WIXIW’, it revels in its own demented chaos.
-
Mar 24, 2014As with their previous six albums, Liars find a way to both innovate and deliver a brand-loyal effort with (dis)ease.
-
Mar 24, 2014Liars revel in keeping their listeners on edge and entertained making Mess their most wickedly enjoyable album yet.
-
Mar 24, 2014Now seven albums deep into their career, Liars remain a lasting and distinguished presence, one that continues to question the confinement of genre and fashions their identity around a refusal to do so.
-
Mar 24, 2014As enjoyable as it can be, Mess is a centrist record from a band without a lot of centrist strengths and appreciating it can feel like a symbolic gesture.
-
Mar 24, 2014It's another welcome reversal for a band that, while keeping true to the same program of intense macabre album after album, keeps finding new ways to vary their ominous approach.
-
MojoMar 21, 2014Mess's crepuscular predecessor felt both more innovative, and more likely to open up Liars' demographic. [Apr 2014, p.92]
-
Mar 21, 2014As much as Mess is a drive further across electronic borders Liars explored in 2012 with WIXIW, it is simultaneously a consolidation of all that has come before.
-
Mar 20, 2014With overwhelming confidence the Brooklyn-based trio present 11 songs of unerring quality and an almost uncountable numbers of flicks and tricks.
-
Mar 19, 2014Being a Liars album, it is magnificent.
-
Mar 18, 2014This is undoubtedly Liars’ most engaging work, and certainly the best Mute album since, well, WIXIW.
-
Q MagazineMar 14, 2014Liars' untidy room remains a wonderful place to visit. [Apr 2014, p.113]
-
Under The RadarMar 14, 2014The kind of envelope-pushing on Mess is nothing if not mature, simultaneously punk as fuck and utterly refined. [Feb/Mar 2014, p.72]
-
UncutMar 14, 2014Analogue synths and electronic drums combine with distorted tribal chants to darkly compelling effect. [Apr 2014, P.77]
-
Mar 14, 2014Another ambitious statement from a band that has made a habit of reinventing themselves at every stage, while still, somehow, sounding uniquely like Liars.
-
Mar 14, 2014Uniquely with Mess, they've instead dealt with the most colossal environment, making a grander statement about the aphotic bleakness of society in the process
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 29 out of 38
-
Mixed: 8 out of 38
-
Negative: 1 out of 38
-
Mar 26, 2014
-
Jan 2, 2016
-
Jun 24, 2014