by
Liars
- Record Label: Mute / Gern Blandsten
- Release Date: Aug 20, 2002
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Mixing the grit that was The Stooges with the bounce that was Gang of Four, Liars and their debut release are everything that should be praised about Brooklyn's music scene.
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An intense fifty minute ride through the minds of one of the best new bands to emerge in recent memory.
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UncutOne of the most adrenalising albums you'll hear this year. [Sep 2002, p.110]
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Entertainment Weekly[Their] jerky, wired punk-funk sound salutes '80s underground heroes like the Contortions, Liquid Liquid and ESG, with a bit of Public Image Ltd. and Gang of Four tossed in. [Listen 2 This supplement, Aug 2002, p.17]
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Nailed to the dancefloor by Flea-like bassist Pat Nature, and dragged up to date by hip-hop beats and random electronica, musically Liars are taut as a tightrope.
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Whether they're shrieking or pleading, dancing or shivering, they're always exuding an intensity that never fails to find a way to hit you hard, really hard.
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While they don't quite have the cross-gender appeal of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the pouty disagreeability of the Strokes or the urbane refinement of the Walkmen, they heedlessly summon the spirits of post-punk monoliths like PiL, A Certain Ratio and the Pop Group without forsaking their gritty New Yawk-ian roots.
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Alternative PressThis album's fucking great, like a sharp stick in the eye. [Sep 2002, p.81]
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Liars have a surprisingly unique approach that distinguishes them from other groups in their willingness to experiment with different tones, volumes, and styles, all of which make They Threw Us in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On an astounding debut.
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The brief disc contains enough gusto and punch to get your spastic swerve on heartily.
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A ramshackle, art-damaged mess, but it's also one of the most bone-rattlingly ferocious records you'll hear all year.
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Liars got the punk wave thing down, but what makes them more interesting than their peers is their willingness to explore beyond the edges of the new-wave box.
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MojoHumour saves the Liars. [Sep 2002, p.110]
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An exciting mix of audacious punk rock stammering held together by such disparate art-rock nomenclature and tendencies as vocal transmutation, discordant climaxes and ironic herky-jerky rhythms.
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While their found object gimmickry is a novel enough enticement, the Liars' solid stop/start rhythm section is what keeps the junkyard noise spastically danceable.
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The WireThey're at their best on tracks like "Nothing Is Ever Lost[...]," where they conjure the wheeling claustrophobia of PiL circa Metal Box. [#223, p.66]
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BlenderLiars are more about energy than solid songwriting, but these spastic, jagged grooves are powerful enough to inspire a sea of awkward punk-rock dances. [#9, p.150]
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The lyrics, insincere as they are, grate somewhat, but the spastic grove cannot be denied they're a bit like a pervy, conservative Devo, with more earwax.
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ResonanceSavvy listeners won't find anything revolutionary. [#36, p.62]
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Q MagazineSometimes they're studenty when they think they're being menacing, but there's promise and ideas aplenty here. [Sep 2002, p.109]
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It's grating and electrifying in equal measure.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 14
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Mixed: 1 out of 14
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Negative: 0 out of 14
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May 20, 2022A bit too long at some parts this record still manages to impress with it's creativity! A much needed pulse to indie overstuffed corpse.
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BobGAug 3, 2006Does everybody who ranked this album have a last name starting with G?
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less_successAug 3, 2006