Drum's Not Dead (CD/DVD)
Drum's Not Dead, Liars' third album and the follow up to 2004's They Were Wrong, So We Drowned was partly inspired by a relocation from New York to Berlin. It finds Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross taking another seismic step forward, switching continents and seizing new musical territory. It's also their finest and fullest album to date, shredding all past reference points. The vinyl and CD release of Drum's Not Dead comes loaded with its own cinematic sister project: a DVD with three film versions of the album, Drum's Not Bread (directed by Julian Gross), The Helix Aspersa (directed by Angus Andrew) and By Your Side (by award-winning filmmaker Markus Wambsganss).
| Tracklisting | |
| Disk | 1 | 2 | |
| 1 | Be Quiet Mt. Heart Attack! |
| 2 | Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack |
| 3 | A Visit from Drum |
| 4 | Drums Gets a Glimpse |
| 5 | It Fit When I Was a Kid |
| 6 | The Wrong Coat for You Mt. Heart Attack |
| 7 | Hold You, Drum |
| 8 | Its All Blooming Now Mt. Heart Attack |
| 9 | Drum and the Uncomfortable Can |
| 10 | You, Drum |
| 11 | To Hold You, Drum |
| 12 | The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack |
| Michael Britten
- Keansburg, NJ, USA |
| Storming the scene in 2001 to the pomp and circumstance awarded to them by fans and critics alike, Liars pulled no punches, nor any odd embellishment with the creation of 2004's They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, to (in all honesty) almost completely disastrous result. Unhappy to simply exercise caution and return to the safety of previous acclaim, and wisely dissatisfied to be unapologetically avant, Andrew, Hemphill and Gross have re-imagined the boundaries of popular music, and returned with copies of their new map, to be handed out. Whether other artists make similar leaps of faith and discover their own products of adventurous experimentation, or simply continue to travel courses plotted along the beaten path is of little consequence. What is of importance to note is that Liars have succeeded here, delivering an album that bears the markers of previous victory, as well as defeat, along with traces of both Drum and Mt. Heart Attack's influence. | |
| Michael Britten
- Keansburg, NJ, USA |
| Storming the scene in 2001 to the pomp and circumstance awarded to them by fans and critics alike, Liars pulled no punches, nor any odd embellishment with the creation of 2004's They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, to (in all honesty) almost completely disastrous result. Unhappy to simply exercise caution and return to the safety of previous acclaim, and wisely dissatisfied to be unapologetically avant, Andrew, Hemphill and Gross have re-imagined the boundaries of popular music, and returned with copies of their new map, to be handed out. Whether other artists make similar leaps of faith and discover their own products of adventurous experimentation, or simply continue to travel courses plotted along the beaten path is of little consequence. What is of importance to note is that Liars have succeeded here, delivering an album that bears the markers of previous victory, as well as defeat, along with traces of both Drum and Mt. Heart Attack's influence. | |
| Tom Speaker
- Beavercreek, OH, USA |
| Liars' Drum's Not Dead is a masterpiece of repetition and one of 2006's best releases. The first track, "Be Quiet Mr. Heart Attack!", immediately creates tension, allowing the succeeding number, "Let's Not Wrestle Mr. Heart Attack" to release everything gloriously. Liars diversify the sound by adding more and more into the cacophony with every measure-----there is something new to be heard here with every listen. While closing song "The Other Side of Mr. Heart Attack" prevents the record's perfection by making itself too plain and directionless, this is still a stunning, layered record, and well worth a purchase. | |
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| Peter Pendergrass
- Greensboro, NC, USA |
| So I recently saw these guys live, and I must say that it was totally awesome to tha maxxx. This album is mainly made out of drums and guitars... if you have already heard/downloaded this record, I'm sure that is either obvious or amazing to you. This is definitely one of the most original, pioneering, hyped up albums of the year. Already placed on many tentative top-tens, it is being hailed as Genius... Now, we all know that in the indie-rock world there is "genius" (like "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn-who-even-cares-about-that-album-anymore-genius"... hahaha) and then there is Genius. This album is a thinking album, like most Genius tends to be. You can totally jam to it, but there is so much more to it than the tribal-beats howling sonic experience. This is definitely the best Liars to date. It's new, and ground breaking. It IS NOISE ROCK. Keep that in mind. If you can't take the heat, don't diss it. | |
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| Michael
- Terre Haute, IN, US |
| I know a lot of people were disappointed with They Were Wrong So Drowned, but thank god it exists. Without Liars taking the steps necessary to record that album, Drum's Not Dead surely would not be around. I personally think this is the best album of the year so far - an album that is gradually becoming one of my all time favorites. Take for example the carnal ''Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack'' with its reverberating falsetto, its off key guitars, and of course those heavy drums. This is one interesting song, my friends. In fact, that much sums up Drum's Not Dead in one word - interesting. Traditional song writing is not to be found here, and many odd effects and pedals are used to create something strange while still using familiar instruments. Most tracks really only use drums, guitar, and vocals with some occasional keys slipping in. If you're looking for something a little abrassive and a little out there, Drum's Not Dead could be it. | |
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| dylan taverner
- bridgeport, CT, usa |
| So you can either buy into the hype or not. On the one hand, everyone is calling this one of the most awesome albums ever. On the other, people are calling it random noise. Lets take this into account however: when Liars recorded this album in Germany, in an old communist recording studio used for propaganda, they recorded each of the songs in different types of ambient rooms to ensure that they had the best acoustics for this song. That kind of dedication does not produce just noise. A lot of thought was put into this albumn, from the extra DVD with THREE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT interpretations of the ENTIRE album (only the first is really good), to the clear recording quality in each of the tracks. This album gets an A- from me for the dedication and time put in as well as the large quantity of actually wonderful songs produced. | |
| shannon ronan
- long island, NY, usa |
| You know how when workers are doing construction right near where you're sleeping and you wake up cranky and ready to kill? Well maybe the Liars were making too much noise for me to really appreciate what they were trying to do. Wait, what were they trying to do?
If their two previous albums were hammers and drills, then, Drum's Not Dead (due out march 21) is at it's softest, spackling, and at it's roughest, a fine sand paper. I'm not saying I could curl up and sleep to this, but this whole less sound more music approach is definite daydream material.
Let's face it, we're never ever going to hear any of these songs on commercial radio. Mr. You're On Fire Mr. was their best shot and those days are long gone. Still I'm sure accusations of selling out will abound from indie snobs without ears. Yeah, the sound is softer and more approachable, but there's still plenty of weird effects and strange incantations to stick with the hip experimental/noise classification. At worst, die-hard fans might be turned off by this unexpected and seemingly wussy turnaround. I suspect they'll get over it. At best, less experienced listeners might scratch their heads at the peculiar sound instead of clawing off their ears in agony.
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