"I yank my eyebrow into a question"

Everyone in the blogosphere (and beyond) knows by now that the new Liars album has leaked. What many may not know is that the band don’t really care. Last week I had the amazing honour of interviewing Angus Andrew, the six-foot-beyond Melbourne-born, singer and general noise-bringer of the three-piece.

Among other things he touched on the early leak of Liars (due out 20/08/07 on Mute Records). I asked if the circumstances frustrated him it all:

No, not at all. It’s actually a pretty nice thing to happen I think. It’s cool that people care enough to want to get in early, I suppose.

I guess it used to be like you were excited that a record was coming out and you’d got to the store and buy it straight away, but that’s just changed. Now people are excited about when they can get it leaked first. I think it’s just the changing way that people look at music.

So much for downloading killing the record industry, huh? But then, I guess Liars have never really been the norm. Although, from the interview, it does seem Angus and co. have tired of the "difficult" tag. This definitely comes across in the new album.

I’ll post the full transcription at a later date, but let me just say that Angus is a dude. Such a nice guy. Which contrasts nicely with the tortured artist image you might gather from the trio’s sonic palette. He is a worthy read, I tell you. The full story will be available in a few places so I’ll keep you all informed.

For now, watch the new video for the ‘Plaster Casts of Everything’ single and be excited, very excited (assuming, unlike me, that you haven’t heard the leak):



[Liars is out 20/08/07 on Mute Records]
* Photo Credit: Joe Dilworth (2007)

Brought to you by the letter W

Last night on the train home from Sydney I got thinking about my travelling habits, which, naturally, started me thinking about my listening habits. My trip was slap-bang in the middle of peak afternoon thoroughfare so I, being the savvy, disaffected youth that I am, put the headphones on and plugged into some musical escapism.

My mp3 player (which is not actually mine but that’s another story, and quite possibly another blog entry), however, is nearing the end of its tether. Buttons are sticking and navigation is only possible in an upward song-by-song fashion. Usually I just stick it on random and hope that my music taste doesn’t let me down, but this time I felt the call of the full album experience.

The two hour and 43 minute journey tested me, though I didn’t flinch in the face of technology. I fell asleep, read Catch 22 and the street presses, and did not press a button – and it was all brought to me by the letter W.

The playlist went something like this:

Why? > Wire > Witch Hats > Wolf Parade > The Wrens

As I reached my front door, the final strains of ‘This Is Not What You Had Planned’ from the The Wrens’ marvellous Meadowlands album faded out, and I was left admiring my ability to compartmentalise my music collection.


The Wrens at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ (photo: Patrick Glennon).

The Wrens Mp3s