Liars

Liars, the once and future kings of Brooklyn art rock, have completely given up their dance-punk crowns and tossed their white belts into the East River. Fans of 2004's They Were Wrong So We Drowned -- a brilliant concept album of witches and woods that critically bombed -- should have seen this coming. Drum's Not Dead, yet another odd narrative about the emotional war between fictional characters Drum and Mount Heart Attack, is an experimental drone of spooky chanting and hyper-sensitive dual percussion. Pulsed rhythms under minimal effects viscerally exhaust the album, making it sluggish and noisy -- and absolutely perfect. The trio of rigid anti-hipsters (Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross) recently relocated to Berlin, Germany, essentially severing all ties with their New York electro-trash roots. Liars are dead. Long live Liars.