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Street Dogs - State of Grace
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First let me state that this debut album from the Liars Academy is a solid, fun rock album. I picked this up a few summers ago in the used bin and it has quite honestly been a staple in my stereo ever since I got it. No News Is Good News is one of those CDs that you can just listen to over and over. It's hard not to sing along and have a good time listening to this CD, and isn't that what music is all about?

Many complain that this CD is quite simple and very dull in the fact that it sounds like most other indie rock albums. Simple guitars, basic drumming and average vocals. I've heard some say the Liars Academy sound like the Alkaline Trio if the Alkaline Trio wasn't very good. Granted that may be a good way to describe the bands sound; the majority of the songs are 2-3 minute punk rock songs without the punk, without the edge; the band sounds a lot better than a sub-par Alkaline Trio. Hell, I like the Liars Academy better than the Alkaline Trio. It's easy to fall in love with this album if you enjoy no nonsense rock.

Each song sort of blends into the next, creating a very fluid listen. There are some hard to listen to tracks among these thirteen songs, but the majority are absolute joys to listen to. I've been rockin out and singin along to “Disappearing Act,” “Kamikaze,” “Quarter Life Crisis,” “Nightlight” and the “Brick Wall Always Wins” for years. Also, I have to say that the song Perfect is an amzing song that seems to break away slightly from the sameness of the rest of the tracks. While those aren't the only good songs on the album, they are probably the best reasons to pick up the Liars Academy's debut.

So yes this album does sound a little bland and isn't very original, but the songs are high quality songs. Just like Limbeck, this band is talented enough to write a CD where all the songs sound the same, and it's a good thing. Liars Academy have created a perfect album for driving or singing along to. With spring around the corner, do yourself a favor and pick up this disc; it sounds even better on a cool night when you're driving around or sitting outside.





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    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 24, 2004 at 11:56 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    FYI:
    yes, they are very much still a band. no, matt isn't in the band anymore, but who cares, really? he's kind of a showoff anyway. they replaced him with someone that is every bit as good and creative.
    oh yeah, they are not all old and have careers, by the way. they are all in thier late 20's or so (right, evan??), and have random bar jobs, with the exception of chris, who runs a recording studio.
    a lot of these comments are pretty incorrect, and you people obviously don't know them. I just wanted to set the record straight, not that anyone reads any of this crap anyway.
    the new record is called "demons" and it is amazing. not at all anything like the other records. this record is evil, dark, weird, catchy and beautiful. any music lover should check it out.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 21, 2004 at 2:04 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "Liars Academy sound like the Alkaline Trio if the Alkaline Trio wasn't very good"----yeah but let's give it four stars any way just for the hell of it you know? So maybe we can be in with the band when we see them at a show, "hey guys you read my review on punknews? "Yeah dude, thanks!": 90 scene points! yay!

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 at 12:06 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Matt is no longer in Liars Academy. They still play around Baltimore alot, and tour occasionally, but nothing too intensive since they're all older and have careers. Their new record is recorded, and is AWESOME, but who knows when it will come out.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 at 10:28 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    To the person a while down:
    I think they're still together, but seeing how Matt is full-time with Strike Anywhere, they can't do shit as much.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 at 1:03 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i bought it. listened to it a couple times and can't even remeber what it sounds like. maybe i'll check it out tomorrow.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 17, 2004 at 7:52 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I love this album, but did anyone else notice the EXACT SAME review at Amazon.com? Thats ok, more exposure, maybe I should do that with my reviled review posted a few weeks ago... :)

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2004-05-17 16:07:05
    My Score:

    This score's for Anticon. Fucking horrible.

    This album gets a 6.5

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 17, 2004 at 3:35 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yep and yep.

    Posted by relay1112 on 2004-05-16 20:41:19
    My Score:

    Do you like the Anticon group Themselves? Is that where your name came from?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 15, 2004 at 7:02 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    basic drumming? are you fucking kidding?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 15, 2004 at 2:36 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    This is an excellent album but, just out of curiousity, does anyone know if they're still together?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 15, 2004 at 12:44 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    do yourself a big favor and check out this band's first incarnation...cross my heart. now they were amazing! much better than liar's academy. but, this is still solid for what it is.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 14, 2004 at 10:30 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    about fucking time someone reviewed this. and my desperate attempts to get scott to play this cd on his radio have failed but we still have one week left!

    i12e

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 14, 2004 at 10:06 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Damn, this came out a while ago.
    I bought it then, and it never really grew on me.
    A few good tracks, and that's about it.

    Posted by kirbypuckett on 2004-05-14 20:06:20
    My Score:

    The sound is the greatest fucking song. End. - kirby