Barrow-in-Furness based punks THE LIARS CLUB are pleased to announce their return with the news that their second EP Of Self will be released on 18th June 2021.
Alongside the announcement, the band have also released a video for brand new track ‘8 Tonne’, out now on all good DSPs.
The new single encapsulates the band’s views on drug abuse and the cataclysm that ensues when people fall into the “deep end”—track name ‘8 Tonne’ refers to the statistic that 8 tonnes of cocaine is consumed by Londoners alone every year.
Commenting on the track, the band said: “The song lyric ‘The Angels said to the people, welcome’ is a direct reference to how easy it is to get sucked into a world of drug abuse, and the endemic it has become in most towns and cities across the UK. The song has purposely been written to be close to the bone, with Noah’s aggressive vocals being a literal cry for help; a warning.”
Forthcoming second EP Of Self is the follow-up to their much-hyped 2018 debut EP Dormant, a well-received first effort that was sadly followed by tragedy, as—merely months later—the band’s original bass player Jake took his own life. After taking time out to process the trauma, the band soon realised their drive and ambition to cement Jake’s legacy was still a major factor in continuing, and set about playing a flurry of shows to raise awareness for mental health.
“It would be easy to not talk about what happened but what would be the point in that?” says vocalist Noah Johnson. “Jake was a massive part of the band so if people take one thing from The Liars Club, it’s that they need to talk to each other.”
Returning to Wolverhampton’s Magic Garden Studios in February 2020, the band reunited with Dormant producer Gavin Monaghan (The Blinders, Goldblade) intent on channeling the fury of their fast-becoming-legendary mosh pits at Barrow’s Underground Music Society (more affectionately known as B.U.M.S), with lead single ‘Tutankhamun’ released during lockdown in 2020 to a wave of support from Huw Stephens (BBC R1) and Tom Robinson (BBC 6music), and spending several weeks on the Amazing Radio A List.
“Because the studio was familiar our chemistry was even stronger,” says Johnson. “It’s the sound of us having a good time, letting go and escaping our normality.”
Stoking the fires of creativity from the band’s den above their local high street record shop, TNT Records, Johnson (Vox), Daniel Milmine (Guitar), Frank Kendall (Bass) and Matt Southwell (Drums) pull positivity from the bleakest corners of the UK. “Barrow made us, so we don’t hate it; we deal with it,” says Johnson. “We’re just four working class lads making an honest living in ‘the man’ industries which fund many lives in our town, but as soon as we’re on stage we become what we want to be…we’re accomplishing our dreams.”
Hot on the heels of fellow noise punk bands like Viagra Boys, Squid, Black Midi, TV Priest, Chubby and The Gang and Daughters, and as combustible as 1970s punk-rock heroes The Ruts, their merciless swathes of new age punk is nothing if not brutally honest.
Fuelled by the calibration of each member’s genre-spanning influences the band equally share the restlessness of Noah’s love for jazz and soul as the bounce of Dan’s appreciation for hip-hop and rock. “We’ve built our music tastes by just enjoying what we like and appreciating those we may not. There’s no limit, no stopping point; new music comes out all the time and lies waiting for someone to dig it.”
Whether targeting austerity, physical and mental abuse in relationships, or “the never-ending repetition of culturalism in modern day society,” their material to date demonstrates a band wholly aware of humanity’s ignorance to the things it doesn’t wish to hear about, whilst simultaneously recognising its existence and having a whole lot of fun in the process.
“We like music to make you feel something. We not only want the lyrics to open your eyes, but we want the music to bring out the fire in your soul,” they say. “The Liars Club is not a place of violence or hate; it’s a haven for people to come to. We are theirs and they are ours.”
The Liars Club’s new EP Of Self is released 18th June 2021
The Liars Club live dates:
24.06.21 – Ulverston – The Sun, Basement
02.07.21 – Manchester – The Castle