Liars Academy

Trading My Life (2002)

Scott Heisel

The Liars Academy, for those who don't know, contains ex/current members of Cross My Heart, Dead Red Sea, and Strike Anywhere. But you'd be hard pressed to find any indication of any of those bands in the Liars Academy's sound. While CMH and DRS would be lumped in with the Deep Elm "emo" sound, and Strike Anywhere is hard-hitting fast paced punk rock. the Liars Academy falls more along the lines of straightforward rock.

As this 4 song EP plays out, I hear a lot of the mid-nineties rock sound - think Superdrag, for a starting point. The songs themselves aren't anything too challenging - each stays within the confines of your basic 4/4 "verse-chorus-verse-chorus-guitar solo-chorus out" form. The lyrics are stereotypically vague, all focusing around the song title for the hooks [especially in EP closer "It's Not Me, It's You," which just gets annoying after hearing that phrase over and over towards the end of the song]. Singer Ryan Shelkett's voice shines the most on the title track - I could see this song climbing the college/modern rock charts with enough of a push.

Overall, this EP sounds like an indie rock version of Pete Yorn - take a tinge of country, plus a pinch of roots rock, coupled with guitar solos that throw back to the 60's and 70's, and you have this band. It's all been done before, but the Liars Academy does a good enough job of rehashing to make it sound fresh.

MP3
Trading My Life