Liars - Drum'S Not Dead

Released: 18/11/22

The latest instalment of the Liars' reissue series, where every two months an album from the back catalogue is released on recycled coloured vinyl, is Drum's Not Dead; originally released in 2006, and the Australian group's third album, it still hits as hard as ever. Minimalist and percussion-heavy (per the title), where its equally good predecessor, 2004'sThey Were Wrong, So We Drowned, is all Throbbing Gristle-inspired unhinged delirium,Drum's Not Deadkind of feels like the dark underbelly to Animal Collective's ebullient neo-primitivism. Which is to say that, once again, the album shattered all past reference points and preconceptions of the band.

Partly inspired by a relocation from New York to Berlin, the album's title and several track names refer to two fictional characters: Drum and Mount Heart Attack ­“ kind of like Yin and Yang, each a state of being. The two drum kits that are integral to many of the tracks on the LP heighten the heavy, primordial feel, endowing the listener with the sense of being transported to an intense, supratemporal space, makingDrum's Not Deadone of Liars' most astounding and thrilling accomplishments.