Liars

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Liars is a three-piece band consisting of Australian-born Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums).

Although initially lumped into the New York dance-punk scene of the early 21st century, they have come to be categorized by their dramatic stylistic shifts between albums, while retaining a consistent interest in rhythm and sound texture.

Liars are one of the many contemporary bands to draw from the late 1970s British post-punk movement. Their first album, 2002s They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, bore some resemblance to the work of Delta 5 and Gang of Four, accenting their angular, acerbic punk with modern synths and drum machines.

Liars second album, 2004s They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, eschewed their debuts trendy post-punk aesthetic in favor of dissonant atmospherics and electronic soundscapes. That album stratified fans and critics alike, especially chafing with those who took to They Threw Us All for the clear dance/punk leanings of a number of that albums tracks (e.g. We Live Northeast of Compton).

2006 saw the release of Drums Not Dead., which continued the direction they had taken with They Were Wrong but was met with a much more favorable critical reaction. 2007s self-tited LP, Liars, found the band once again shifting styles, this time towards 60s style garage rock and 70s proto-punk, all through the dark, effects-driven prism that Liars began channeling on They Were Wrong.