Taking the damaged electronic approach from WIXIW further and deeper, Liars have created an album of themes that would suit the runways of some post-apocalyptic version of Fashion Week. Opener "Mask Maker" is a nasty suturing of Giorgio Moroder, a possessed Speak & Spell and Seasons in the Abyss.
And so it goes. Whereas Angus Andrew voiced the heartbroken claustrophobe in clubland last time around, here he and his trio have embraced the black light bacchanal. "Vox Tuned D.E.D." and "Pro Anti-Anti" have the ecstatic throb of their best work, as well as the grinding aphasia of an all-out bender. Elsewhere Andrew's distinctive vocal is given an electronic bleaching, bringing man and machine more closely in line.
The Mess sprawls across more high energy rave-ups and skin-crawling creepers before emerging from its underworld on "Left Speaker Blown," a kind of pre-hangover crash of strings and drone. As with their previous six albums, Liars find a way to both innovate and deliver a brand-loyal effort with (dis)ease.
(Mute)And so it goes. Whereas Angus Andrew voiced the heartbroken claustrophobe in clubland last time around, here he and his trio have embraced the black light bacchanal. "Vox Tuned D.E.D." and "Pro Anti-Anti" have the ecstatic throb of their best work, as well as the grinding aphasia of an all-out bender. Elsewhere Andrew's distinctive vocal is given an electronic bleaching, bringing man and machine more closely in line.
The Mess sprawls across more high energy rave-ups and skin-crawling creepers before emerging from its underworld on "Left Speaker Blown," a kind of pre-hangover crash of strings and drone. As with their previous six albums, Liars find a way to both innovate and deliver a brand-loyal effort with (dis)ease.
