Liars

Few bands pursue a sense of creeping unease as doggedly as Liars, who smartly turned their back on the faddish promises of disco-punk to follow their own warped muse, one more in line with late-’70s devotees of dissonance like This Heat and Pop Group than those groups’ dance-happy contemporaries. The new WIXIW taps into several elements of past Liars records that should already be familiar to longtime listeners. An uneasy pop sensibility makes the album appear relatively straightforward—at least by Liars standards—on first listen. But WIXIW eventually opens to reveal cunning depths. Based heavily in electronics, be it the swooping ambience of “The Exact Colour Of Doubt” or the stretched-elastic low end in “His And Mine Sensations,” WIXIW settles into a sweet spot between the misanthropic avant-rock of 2010’s Sisterworld and hypnotic ’90s trip-hop.

Updated 07/04/2012