With their first full length release, They Threw us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top,Liars made their existence known to the world outside Williamsburg asthe most interesting product of that gentrified province, moreintriguing than the achingly deliberate sleaze of the Yeah Yeah Yeahsand decidedly darker than the goofy warble of the Rapture. A few yearsdown the road sees those latter two bands consorting with Carson Dalyand the buzz bin, while the recently shaken Liars lineup (minus theformidable bass and drum duo from the first LP) holed up in a NewJersey basement with their recording equipment and a notebook ofaudience-alienating ideas. The bands' prevailing neuroses have shiftedfrom bombast and bravado to paranoia and claustrophobia, which revealthemselves in oblique chants about witches and magic. "Broken Witch"(perhaps the shortest Liars song title to date) opens the album with adeep electronic pulse that sidles ominously alongside the staggeringdrum kit. Though intentionally hook-less, the song's offbeat, hypnoticfluctuations are as engaging as anything the band has done previously.The track sets the intended mood perfectly, conveying that this albumis not going to be pretty, and that it may not be danceable, but canstill be compelling enough to want to know where the rapidlyaccelerating incantations are leading. "There's Always Room on theBroom" mixes distorted voices and fuzzed out samplers with a creepyfalsetto sing-a-long chorus that eats away at the defenses like amalevolent earworm until the song has completely seized control ofrational judgment and begins to appear on the mind at its own volition.Combined with the hysterical strobe-animation video included with thedisc, the song is a devious and extremely successful attempt atreprogramming listeners and viewers to find the unlistenablelistenable. "They Don't Want Your Corn, They Want Your Kids" is theclosest to the early Liars bass lines and kick beats, a brief reprievefrom the murky fear of tracks like "We Fenced Other Gardens With theBones of Our Own," with its desperate cry of "We're doomed! We'redoomed!" that pierces through the indiscriminate chanting aboutcauldrons and evil spells. These songs capitalize on the darkness andspooky atmosphere that were hinted at in earlier efforts that wereobscured by the snap of a dance-punk bass line, driving the band (andtheir audience) into more and more unfamiliar territory until much oftheir sound and style are unrecognizable. They Were Wrong, So We Drownedis a reactionary record, forged in the glare of the spotlight thrustupon the band in the wake of their catchy debut. Rather than linger inthe comfortable bed they made for themselves, and potentially reap thebenefits of a wider appeal, they chose to start from scratch andchallenge themselves. In the end, the adventurousness of this decisionwill benefit them far more, as Liars have demonstrated that they are acapable, inventive band with more than just one trick up their sleeves. Read More
