Welcome to this special WARCh Madness edition of the music review! Actually, this has almost nothing to do the event itself, although it is written in a state of WARCh Madness, which is contagious and outrageous.
WARC would like to thank the crowd who came to previous shows. WARCh Madness has one more show this Saturday: Le Loup 8 p.m. at GFC!
Also all week you can join in on Paint it Gold and a CD grab-bag in the Campus Center lobby as well as a bake sale on the second floor, all benefiting the Meadville Council of the Arts.
Now to the actual review. Looking for some melodic art–rock with the badassery of stoner rock? Well look no further than Liars’ new album “Sisterworld.”
If you are familiar with the band’s previous work then you will notice that Liars incorporates a slightly more melodic and mainstream route here than on their previous highly experimental albums, once again continuing the trend of experimental bands becoming more accessible.
That is not to say that “Sisterworld” is not experimental and obtuse; it is still is out there and chaotic, but it definitely is a more contained chaos.
The exemplary song, “Scissor,” starts the album. “Scissor” is one of the most devious songs I have heard.
It starts with a quiet a cappella lead-in to Agnus Andrew’s dark lyrics about finding his girl after she apparently committed suicide with a pair of his scissors.
As soon as it looks like this might be a long lament about a lost love, everything bursts open into a rage of menacing punk minor chords.
This detour in the song blew me away the first time I heard it.
Before my first listen, I’d never heard of Liars, but after that first chorus I had to commit myself to their previous discography.
To be committed to a band only after listening to the first two minutes of one album is a rare occurrence. While Liars will definitely appeal to everybody, those who are willing to adventure to experimental and dark music will especially love “Sisterworld.”
The entire album has a brooding energy to it; even the name “Sisterworld” is an abstract yet dark name in itself.
With song titles like “Here Comes All the People,” “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant” and “Drop Dead,” this album has no shortage of death. “Here Comes All the People” plays as a serial killer’s diary complete with body counts and disembodied voices.
What was more disturbing for me, though, was that “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant” is based off of the murder of a homeless man in L.A. that one of the band members witnessed.
The song is actually one of my favorites off the album, but it certainly is one of the darkest songs I have ever heard, mostly because it’s based on an eyewitness account.
Works of art about things that are dark can be intimidating but still well made; in this case, I think “Sisterworld’s” dark nature makes it so much more intriguing. The album can be mentally challenging at times, but it’s incredibly rewarding to get through.
“Sisterworld” is definitely one of the best albums of 2010 so far (along with Beach House’s “Teen Dream”) and I think it may be a top 10 year-end list candidate.
I would say give this album at least one listen then decide for yourself if it will become your favorite.
