Three-piece dance punk outfit The Liars are releasing their new album next month, entitled WIXIW and you can listen to their new single “No. 1 Against The Rush” here.

The track offers a brief glimpse as to what we should expect from the album – Heavily sampled electronic sounds with a minimal driving rhythm, the track carries you along without any perception of whereabouts in the song you are, which with music like this, is exactly what you want.

They’ve been around for over ten years now and if you weren’t a follower from near the beginning, you could be forgiven for thinking the band had changed. From their first album They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top in 2001 they were more punk than dance, and gradually, that has switched.

However with the change, has come a greater understanding and maturity towards song structure and atmosphere. The first thing I listened to was their debut album, and got completely the wrong impression about the band. If you haven’t heard The Liars before, the new single would be a good place to start. With the more accessible sound however, they seem to have sacrificed lyrical clarity for tone.

Their sound is interesting and definitely conveys certain feelings, which leave impressions. But I can’t help I feel clearer about their tracks, when I’ve watched the videos. This is a great advantage and simultaneously a disadvantage of The Liars’ music.

Their videos are thought provoking, interesting and sometimes downright strange, and the images never seem out of place, which is hard to accomplish consistently. Of late, their videos have become like mini movies, and they really fit the mood of the songs. But I feel like they rely on these to translate their songs into something the listener can connect with.

Having listened to “No. 1 Against The Rush”, have a look at the accompanying video and see what I mean.

WIXIW is out in June 2012 and can be pre ordered on The Liars’ website.

Words: Simon Weeds