When Liars get noisy and absonant, get the fuck out of the way, because there's nothing stopping them. Hearing them ranting and raving on Sisterworld's "Scarecrow on a Killer Slant", you get the aural image of someone punching a wall until they can see the bone of their knuckles. Based on their lyrical ambiguity ("Why you shoot the man with the gun / 'Cause he bother you!"), you get the impression these guys are rebels without causes, but punks angry at nothing is hardly new, and, in the case of the best of Sisterworld, it isn't any less exhilarating.
The problem with Sisterworld is that the moments of raw intensity the band exhibits are a glaring minority. The album is mostly comprised of meandering synth odysseys that contort and blaze but never go anywhere, and are, frankly, useless. The fact that they're juxtaposed with works of such unadulterated vitriol as "Scarecrows" make the lows only seem lower. I don't recommend Sisterworld, just a couple songs on it. The band's apparent compulsion to balance their releases is a clear hinderance to their greatest strengths, so it's tough to see if this is a rut they will ever get out of.
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