Bizarrely on
Liars’ behalf, vanished are the brutally blemished aural soundscapes for which they’ve garnered quite a reputation, replaced astonishingly by a vague sense of coherence as gospel groans wrap themselves secularly about an abrasive guitar-led blues bombast on incisive opener Scissor. Delving deeper into the utterly erratic, No Barrier Fun twinkles with xylophones and gently rolls with seesawing violins like rocking chair-bound geriatrics in agonising expectation of that illusive final number to be called. Here Comes All The People creates a vexing vortex of broken down pianos and comfortless ritualistic chanting, whilst the antiquated haunting Horrors-esque hip-hop fuzz of Scarecrows On A Killer Slant is quite unerring. The bustle of Beck collides head-on with the tribal traits of TV On The Radio on Proud Evolution, before the whole shebang crumbles away into a hallucinatory take on a reverb-reared Radiohead. The Overachievers reaches further into the catacombs of reckless retro, operating ham-fistedly on a Melvins hip replacement, ripped straight from the grave of Joey Ramone. Subsidence and subtlety shall never be amongst Liars’ admirable qualities, although the cataclysmic horn convulsions of Goodnight Everything do their utmost do convincingly portray a musically multi-faceted malleability to the Berlin-based trio. Entirely in keeping with their baffling inter-LP stylistic shifts, Sisterworld is a highly intriguing album and a distinguished, if not defining effort.
