Liars - It Fit When I Was a Kid (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Liars

It Fit When I Was a Kid (2006)

Mute


If one was to personify Liars, they would be that weird little kid, whose mother would always tell them during childhood "no no, you're not strange honey, you're...unique!"

Those kids usually got their milk money stolen, but luckily, Liars is in no such danger. Their battles aren't played out by the see-saw, but instead, on some shiny silver discs that hold music. And on those discs, you'll find some very ‘unique' music to say the least. If you're somebody who's yet to be formally introduced to Liars, there's a few things you should know:

A) Conventional song structures are out the window.
B) There are no song structures.

If you can grasp those, you'll do fine with both Liars' previous material, and their newest EP, It Fit When I Was a Kid. Continuing with the no wave style they've become so well known for, the trio find themselves hopelessly lost on these three new songs, and that's just the way they like it. Now, there's technically four songs, but one of those is just a techno remix of the first and title track. That said, what can you expect from this newest venture? Lots of droning vocals, and lots and lots of percussion.

That's what it amounts to. The title track is little more than four minutes of spoken style vocals over some rhythmic, tribal drumming. Singer Angus Andrew's voice has a definite echo effect that just ripples over the pitter-patter of the bass and snare drums. "The Frozen Glacier of Mastadon Blood" adds a bit more instrumentation into the fold, but again, not in a cohesive manner, more a loose collection of riffs and vocal effects that have quite a jarring effect on your head if you listen too long. Lastly, the techno remix at the end is entirely forgettable, and if you ask me, entirely unnecessary. The "oontz oontz" and fuzzy distortion of this song is enough to sink the EP as it is.

As with everything this band has released, after listening, I'm not quite sure where exactly I stand. Part of me can appreciate the minimalism, and part of me feels like the EP accomplished nothing at all. Well, I'll tell you one thing, their milk money ain't safe for long.