Liars — Drum's Not Dead

The Liars tone down the abrasive sonic assault of their last album, They Were Wrong So We Drowned, for a less outwardly evil and more conceptual bad trip this time around. The album is built around two character traits (no mistake, it's a confusing concept record) — Drum (assertive, creative, productive) and Mount Heart Attack (stressed, self-doubting) — that guide pulsing tracks like "It's All Blooming Now Mt. Heart Attack" and skronkier numbers like "Drum And The Uncomfortable Can." It makes for a bleak musical listen that slowly grinds away at your subconscious with sharp percussion, mournful organ and spookily off-kilter vocals. It's the sort of universe where Broken Social Scene are forced to make out with the members of Pigface and then sing about it in group therapy. The Mt. Heart Attack songs, particularly "The Other Side Of Mt. Heart Attack," at least offer some lip service to conventional, contemporary songwriting. But taken as a whole, Drum's Not Dead remains just a touch too unwieldy, obtuse and purposefully arty to be enjoyable.

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