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Liars
 It's always fun to speak to Angus Andrew, one third of Los Angeles-based Liars. Australian-born Andrew this time greets me on the speakerphone with fellow band mates and LA natives Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross in tow. Liars' self-titled fourth LP is the third in succession to feature this current line-up, Gross joining the band when its original rhythm section walked after 'They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top' (2002).
Andrew and especially Hemphill are keen surfers, the latter complaining that too many kooky Finns are clogging up the nearby beaches. With a wide scale tour coming up, each of them laments the lack of time to relax. At the same time, the trio is busy practicing every day, the group dynamics apparently stronger than ever before, a strong sense of confidence permeating the eleven new songs on 'Liars'.
Hemphill explains, "The thing that Angus and I had in common when we were about to tackle the record and write it was a very loose sort of connection of just music that inspired us when we were younger... At the best it really does sort of connect each song with the common element of wanting to make music."
Andrew adds, "It was really fun, this record for us. We didn't really have a concept and it was a lot of freedom involved in letting especially a lot of our influences through y'know. We're three guys who love to listen to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as much as anyone y'know. So it was really fun to kinda make this stuff that really showed that honestly. It was really fun to be rocking out to music that's been very familiar with us, like Aaron said, almost from our own childhood."
The resulting collection of songs is easily the most varied set the band has presented, with instrumentation and recording techniques changing from track to track. Adelaide engineer Jeremy Glover produced the record and played bass on three tracks, Andrew revealing that the band had initially intended to record in Adelaide. "We were gonna record there. I don't know if you know that? Yeah we were close to recording in Adelaide but the expense was too much for us all to get out there."
Glover meanwhile travels with the band as its live sound engineer. Andrew jokes, "We were wondering if we could get a little flying fox so [Glover] could come down and play the bass on a coupla songs but no. We decided we'd bring on another guy and we did that, a friend of ours from LA."
As always, drum sounds are ever-present on 'Liars' though not as obviously central as on its predecessor 'Drum's Not Dead' (2006). From the swarming cymbals on Plaster Casts Of Everything to the throbbing post-doo wop clang What Would They Know, the drums surge forth on this, Liars' most immediately accessible offering.
"You can call it a pop record and we won't be unhappy," smiles Andrew. Several of the songs reflect a chugging amphetamine swirl not unlike certain early 80s reinterpretations of the classic Lou Reed/John Cale blueprint from 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' and 'White Light/White Heat'. One can hear shades of Rowland S. Howard, the Reid Brothers, Bobby Gillespie and Jason Pierce in these songs, which tremble alongside more tech-inspired numbers such as the closer, Protection. Andrew explains that particular song's formation.
"I remember actually trying to write something that was the most poppy song I could ever do. And I really was trying that. And I remember playing the song to Aaron and Julian and being really shocked that they appreciate it. And in a lot of ways that was a bit of a mark or a turning point in the sense that we started to think about that kind of challenge, about this kind of pop sensibility and what that's all about."
Along with the dreamy pop vibes, 'Liars' sees certain hip hop-influenced strands seep through, Andrew explaining, "Oh y'know, hip hop has basically been our staple, along I suppose with Led Zeppelin. It's a funny thing that we agreed on once that the only two CDs we can all agree on are like a Led Zeppelin and a Biggie Smalls. And that's kinda been the way that we've always felt."
Lenin Simos
'Liars' is out now on Virgin.
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