Post by Zapp Brannigan on Feb 9, 2011 23:47:55 GMT -5
www.lifessweetbreath.com/reviews/albums/30-youre-a-liar.html
You're A Liar - You're A Liar
[Bandcamp]
90%
As the saying goes, "less is more". Sometimes more can be said about a band's potential and emotion with an EP's worth of music rather than a 80 minute behemoth of an album.
This could not be truer said about the debut album of Bloomington, Indiana's progressive math rock quartet, You're A Liar. Clocking in at just over 22 minutes, You're A Liar's fast paced and prog-rock influenced self-titled debut leaves you utterly satisfied and wanting to re-listen to it immediately. Not a little while after finishing it, or the next day. No. You're A Liar's album has an infectious sound that few albums have that make you listen to it for a second, third, and fourth time without hesitation. As soon as the final track ends, you immediately hit the repeat button and let the album play 2-3 more times.
Not has a math rock band had so much promise in their debut since Maps And Atlases released their debut EP, Trees, Swallows, Houses in 2004. Like Maps and Atlases, You're A Liar takes no time in setting the tone with its in-your-face opener, “Chew-E”. In just a little over 3 minutes, the band allows the listener to hear what the band is capable of as a cohesive unit, as well as letting the respective members show off their chops. Andy Beargie with his bombastic and furious, yet jazzy drumming, and Charlie Thomas and Gabriel Garber's mathy stop-and-go guitar playing interspersed with some serious progressive rock riffing. To complement them all, Eric Day, who also recorded, mixed and mastered the album, fills in funky and groovy bass lines. Together the band's sound rivals that of the psych-influenced prog-rock solo albums of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.
Usually in an album this short, you don't expect to see a musical suite of sorts. However, You're a Liar throws out conventional wisdom and follows up the opening track with a three song suite, which are individually titled, “Flea I”, “Fleas II”, and “Fleas III”. The oddly named suite continues the fast paced prog/math-rock sound for the next 7-8 minutes which gives the feel of a finely crafted epic progressive rock song.
On the next track, “Spring Break”, which is the longest of the album, clocking in at little over three and a half minutes, gives the listener somewhat of a breather. However, it is a beautiful breather and is the gem of the entire album. “Spring Break” sounds like something that would not be out of place on the next This Town Needs Guns or Fang Island album.
The last four tracks, “Chops”, “Charlie Bugs”, “Stereodactyl”, and “The Thing Of It Is”, finish the album exactly what it was started with: fast-paced heavy prog, with a few touches of Rodriguez-Lopezesque feedback and guitar trickery.
All in all, You're A Liar shows it is capable of letting it all loose, yet being able to restrain themselves by giving us barely 20 minutes of music to take in. Let's just hope the band will wet our appetite for more in the near future.
-Jordan Leman, February 9, 2011
You're A Liar - You're A Liar
[Bandcamp]
90%
As the saying goes, "less is more". Sometimes more can be said about a band's potential and emotion with an EP's worth of music rather than a 80 minute behemoth of an album.
This could not be truer said about the debut album of Bloomington, Indiana's progressive math rock quartet, You're A Liar. Clocking in at just over 22 minutes, You're A Liar's fast paced and prog-rock influenced self-titled debut leaves you utterly satisfied and wanting to re-listen to it immediately. Not a little while after finishing it, or the next day. No. You're A Liar's album has an infectious sound that few albums have that make you listen to it for a second, third, and fourth time without hesitation. As soon as the final track ends, you immediately hit the repeat button and let the album play 2-3 more times.
Not has a math rock band had so much promise in their debut since Maps And Atlases released their debut EP, Trees, Swallows, Houses in 2004. Like Maps and Atlases, You're A Liar takes no time in setting the tone with its in-your-face opener, “Chew-E”. In just a little over 3 minutes, the band allows the listener to hear what the band is capable of as a cohesive unit, as well as letting the respective members show off their chops. Andy Beargie with his bombastic and furious, yet jazzy drumming, and Charlie Thomas and Gabriel Garber's mathy stop-and-go guitar playing interspersed with some serious progressive rock riffing. To complement them all, Eric Day, who also recorded, mixed and mastered the album, fills in funky and groovy bass lines. Together the band's sound rivals that of the psych-influenced prog-rock solo albums of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.
Usually in an album this short, you don't expect to see a musical suite of sorts. However, You're a Liar throws out conventional wisdom and follows up the opening track with a three song suite, which are individually titled, “Flea I”, “Fleas II”, and “Fleas III”. The oddly named suite continues the fast paced prog/math-rock sound for the next 7-8 minutes which gives the feel of a finely crafted epic progressive rock song.
On the next track, “Spring Break”, which is the longest of the album, clocking in at little over three and a half minutes, gives the listener somewhat of a breather. However, it is a beautiful breather and is the gem of the entire album. “Spring Break” sounds like something that would not be out of place on the next This Town Needs Guns or Fang Island album.
The last four tracks, “Chops”, “Charlie Bugs”, “Stereodactyl”, and “The Thing Of It Is”, finish the album exactly what it was started with: fast-paced heavy prog, with a few touches of Rodriguez-Lopezesque feedback and guitar trickery.
All in all, You're A Liar shows it is capable of letting it all loose, yet being able to restrain themselves by giving us barely 20 minutes of music to take in. Let's just hope the band will wet our appetite for more in the near future.
-Jordan Leman, February 9, 2011
