Deep in the woods of darkest New Jersey lurks a terrifying, three-headed beast - young, yet sharp of tooth, strong of claw and with a voice so demonically chilling it can peel flesh from bones at 20 paces. No, it's not a yeti from Yonkers, but rather bonkers Brooklyn trio Liars, relocated to the basement studio of vocalist Angus Andrew's New Jersey home for the recording of their second album.
Liars' debut LP, the snappily titled "They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top" may have linked them with both NYC's punk-funk and garage rock cabals (through their sampling of ESG and Andrew's relationship with Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs respectively), but the follow-up is a radically different kettle of kippers.
The title has decidedly 'Monty Python' overtones, but there's not a lot to laugh at on "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned", since each of the ten tracks is a startlingly visceral probing of the art and craft of witches, persecuted throughout history for their beliefs.
Tapping in to our fearful collective unconscious, Liars have conjured a darkly mesmeric, thrillingly full-blooded, paranoid drama of ritual and occultism built from twitchy electronica, shrieking vintage synths, punk noise and unsettlingly twisted hip hop. Into their sonic cauldron they've thrown Suicide, certainly, but also Silver Apples, Chrome, Cabaret Voltaire and cLOUDEAD, to marvellously malevolent effect.
Vocals often take the form of solo incantation, thus upping the spook ante, but at other times are jabbered out as if by a bunch of Bedlam inmates. Throughout, crows caw, thunder claps, bells toll and sticks beat funereal time. Part 'Blair Witch Project', part "The Devils", "They Were Wrong..." is the soundtrack to the scariest film you'd never dare watch. Something wicked this way comes.
