Liars. Photo by Zen Sekizawa.
The last time I saw Liars, it was in an amphitheater in Houston during summer 2008. Handpicked by Thom Yorke to open for Radiohead, the Los Angeles-based band left the thousands of people at the show mostly confused who spent the better part of the set socializing.
Two albums since their self-titled release in 2008, Liars seem to be on a similar precipice. This year’s release WIXIW (pronounced “wish you”) has the band going in yet another direction. Where Liars and Sisterworld found the band going for a relatively straightforward rock-and-roll sound, WIXIW offers all the unusual turns that the band has offered over the years but it’s wrapped up in a pristine electronic package.
At U Street Music Hall, Angus Andrew, the hulking frontman, started the show with “The Exact Colour of Doubt,” a song that would normally find itself toward the back of the set. But Liars were just easing the audience into a false sense of security. Sure enough, the band would be lashing out with loud and furious renditions of Drum’s Not Dead and Sisterworld highlights “Let’s Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack” and “Scarecrows On A Killer Slant”.
Songs like the aggressive four-on-the-floor banger “Brats” and the slow burn of “No. 1 Against The Rush” felt completely at home in a room normally reserved for world-class DJs. While the crowd was receptive to the new material, parts of the set felt less immediate. “Ill Valley Prodigies” and “WIXIW,” while nice companion pieces, were used for trips to the bar and bathroom. That said, the roof nearly came off the place when they snuck in material from Drum’s Not Dead and Liars.
The two-song encore of “Be Quiet Mt. Heart Attack” and “Plaster Casts of Everything” snapped the audience out of their electronic induced haze, moving from stoic head nodding to a full-on mosh pit in seconds. The encore felt like a brief snapshot of the band’s career. Not everything connected Wednesday night, but when it did it was hard and fast. The concert’s explosion of power and variety showed just why this band has had such staying power since the turn of the century.
