Look no further than Sisterworld's opening track, "Scissor," to hear Liars' influences. The ethereal beginning may echo Liars' 2006 masterwork, Drum's Not Dead, but the vocals sound like TV on the Radio. But just as you're growing comfortable with the meandering synth line, the band shifts course again on "No Barrier Fun," with the angular post-punk fuzz that punctuated its early work. The trio instills an inescapable sense of impending doom throughout Sisterworld: disorienting guitar and bass ("Here Comes All the People"), storming synth blasts ("Scarecrows on a Killer Slant") and cascading drums ("Drop Dead"). Songs like "The Overachievers" and "Proud Evolution" explore territory that the band has already mined — with much better results — while "Goodnight Everything" is another pretty good TV on the Radio impression. But just when you think Liars are content fusing past glories, they come up with exquisite closer "Too Much, Too Much," where the interplay between Angus Andrew's measured vocals and the wandering synthesizer and bass is alchemical. It achieves something new on Sisterworld: pure aural bliss. — Jeremy Willets
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