Hailing from the blustery, north-westerly outpost of Barrow-in-Furness, four piece The Liars Club continue an emerging trend of British punk bands embracing the 1970s sound that made the genre revolutionary. Akin to contemporaries such as Chubby and the Gang, Viagra Boys and, to a lesser extent, IDLES, The Liars Club provide that old school punk sound with a modern twist.
Following the acclaim of 2018 EP ‘Dormant’, they’ve gone back to the well of 1970s punk rock inspiration and returned with their follow up EP ‘Of Self’. On first listen, it strikes as a record very much of the time we live in – stomping, staccato riffs with front man Johnson embarking on tacit rants about society’s ills. However, it generates images of years gone by and is not bound by its perceived pigeon-holed genre. Tracks like single ‘Tutankhamun’ and ‘Cactus’ carry with them riffs that wouldn’t have been out of place in the writing room of a 2006-era Arctic Monkeys. The vocal style follows the lead of IDLES front man Joe Talbot, but with almost goth-rock quivers, especially on ‘Cactus’.
Opening track ‘Tonne’ is very much in keeping with that 1970s aesthetic that binds together an excellent grooving riff, while Johnson spews a stream of consciousness of battling the police down a microphone. In contrast to this sauntering opener, ‘PKB’ is a punch in the gut, carrying with it that sneering commentary and an attitude that harks back to the glory days of Gallows in their mid-2000s pomp.
In taking influences from jazz, hip-hop and good old fashioned punk rock, The Liars Club have crafted a unique sound that adds to the plethora of emerging British DIY bands inspired by yesteryear. On ‘Of Self’, they capture the essence of what it would be like to take all the artists that made their name way back when, and drop them into a pandemic riddled 2021.
TOM WALSH