Water Liars

Water Liars/Water Liars

When listening to new bands these days I usually don’t do much “research” on the artist in fear that I’ll find something about them that pisses me off.  Like they used to cover John Mayer or something…  No seriously, sometimes I just like to be introduced to an artist through their music.  So, when a friend recommended the new Water Liars, I did no research, and just got the album.  And I’m glad I did.

The opening “Cannibal” begins with Nirvana-like distortion, but as the vocals enter, you realize you’ve got a different animal here.  It’s almost as if the ghost of Jason Molina is crooning over the speakers, and Magnolia Electric Co. was the band that I kept coming back to when listening to this album over and over for about 3 weeks.  There isn’t much new or tricky going on in the songs, just nice, familiar sounding melodies surrounded by mostly dark lyrics.  “Swannanoa,” which I was singing to within two listens, opens in a heroin soaked dream and features my favorite line from the 11 song collection in:

 There is the bright beautiful acoustic track “Let It Breathe,” but the album mostly seems to come from a place of loss.  Maybe from a man that is searching for something and hasn’t quite put his finger on it.  Whatever it is, and wherever it came from, it seems to work.