album of the week: 5.3

Liars

Sisterworld

Mute Records (2010)

why you'll love it - hypnotically atmospheric and creepy. stays with you

why you'll hate it - too depressing, all mood little melody

It's very easy to praise Liars and come off as pretentious. So rather than go on about Sisterworld's abstract social criticism of Los Angeles, and their noisy no-wave influences; I'm just gonna skip the masturbatory word salad and say I love this album because it freaks me out. This isn't the kind of album I'd play in my car and rock my head to. I keep coming back to it for its creepy atmosphere, not so much for any kind of catchiness.

I could look deeper into the lyrics, but I won't because it may spoil the freakshow for me. The lyrics to the opening track, "Scissor", give you just enough info to let your imagination run wild. "I tried to save her, but my hands were freaking out" and "I began to quiver when I saw her blinking eye." Also, the music video does an amazing job of emulating that kind of claustrophobic nightmare you have every once and a while.

The music for the most part follows up their 2007 album. Their previous two albums were too drowned in feedback even for me to stomach. Now that they've been actually writing songs, most of them are keepers. The only duds here are songs that are ones that plod around with no drive, like "Drip".

Make no mistake though, this is pretty much art house rock. Entertainment isn't the goal. Interest is, and more than any other album of theirs, they've got mine. Maybe its been a weak year so far, but Sisterworld is feeling like one of my favorites. Its been out for two months now and I can't seem to turn away from it.