Liars Academy - Demons - (07/09/04 Equal Vision) - Album Review

Liars Academy
Demons (07/09/04 Equal Vision)

Mixing elements from proud purveyors of emotive and cutting guitar laden music such as The Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Husker Du, Thrice, Saves The Day and Dashboard Confessional, makes this 2nd full length offering from Baltimore’s brusiers; Liars Academy that skirts more boundaries than Hungary; compelling, crisp and cutting. Ryan Shelkett’s versatile vocals are a neat feature of this intriguing outfit; whether he has to come across as cynical, dark and sinister like in ‘

Dying As Fast As I can’, or whether he takes on a more soft and soulful touch like that in the tingling acoustic based ‘Breathing’, he does so with sincerity, emotion and passion. The pop punkers out there are advised to head straight to track three ‘Adventure’, incorporating Dustin Kensrue (Thrice) style vocals and featuring fighting talk from the outset;

“For the record this is cold war, this is throwing dirt in the eyes.
An education in an argument is this feeling alive?
For the record I’m ready to fight, I’m ready to die.”

The eerie touch of ‘Ghosts Of Baltimore’ will haunt and move the listener, being yet another example of the diversity of Liars Academy. This track features well timed percussion provided Evan Tanner, bearing out the fact this is an all round talented outfit. It is going to be hard to select standout songs for single release, as this is truly a well thought out and broad collection of tracks.

http://www.equalvision.com
http://www.liarsacademy.com

David Adair