March 21, 2006 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@michigandaily.com R TSiign tilg 8 . . . .. ... .. .. I Coke and cameraphones * Courtesy of Mute We swear these guys aren't The Doors. LIARS' LATEST ALBUM A TRIUMPH OF NOISE AND MELODY By Chris Gaerig Associate Magazine Editor To know where you are, you've got to know where you've been. When the Liars released their sophomore effort They' Were Wrong So We Drowned, it received drastically mixed reviews - Spin called it "unlistenable," while webzines Liars like Stylus Magazine praised the Drum's Not Dead album's barrage of brutal noise. Coming off of the group's raw, Mute rock-inspired freak-out They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top, these mixed feelings were anticipated - albeit not as severe as they ultimately were. Going from the stripped sound of Trench to the feedback-riddled tracks on Drowned, fans and critics alike were taken aback by the change. But despite the negative press, the album fared well within the indie community. This left the New York trio in an especially difficult predicament. On their third proper release, would they return to the structured experimentation of their first album or try to perfect their new sound and cement a place in the growing noise-rock scene? On Drum's Not Dead, the Liars are able to accomplish what few groups have been able to: seamlessly blend two drastically dif- ferent sounds to create an album catergorically better than what either could produce alone. When indie-rock darlings Modest Mouse infused a pop framework into Good News For People Who Love Bad News, they were chastised by fans for sell- ing out and not being "indie enough," but praised by mainstream radio. The Liars have faced similar criti- cism. Trench drew comparisons to The Strokes while Drowned invoked the likes of Wolf Eyes and Black Dice. The parallels continue with Drum's Not Dead - the album's closest cousin is the recent work of freak-folk powerhouse Animal Collective (on steroids, anyway). Name-dropping aside, Drum's Not Dead speaks bounds about the Liars' abilities both as composers and producers. One of the most impressive - and obvi- ous - feats of the album is its continuity. Tracks flow together effortlessly. Each song has its own, distinct personality that blends with both tracks surrounding it. This cohesiveness gives the album an improvised feel. While many jam sessions seem uncoordinated and disjointed, the Liars are clearly and precisely locating every note and maladjusted croon. Another sign of the group's impressive growth in the studio is the tension created between tracks. Drum's Not Dead is like a third-grader who can't sit still in class - in a good way. The record travels from aggressive, percussion-driven cuts ("A Visit From Drum") to airy vocals and astral guitars ("Drum Gets a Glimpse"). The Liars even combine these drasti- cally different sounds on "It Fit When I Was a Kid" The rising and falling of the record, combined with its internal cohesiveness, is something that few, if any, contemporary groups have accomplished. Not only does the album work well as a whole, but each individual track is gorgeously constructed. The ominous lull of the guitars and wood-block clicks on "The Wrong Coat For You Mt. Heart Attack" is amplified by the eerie, muted and borderline nonsen- sical cries: "They will discover you / Drawing in the living room / Time will abandon you." In contrast, the sheer power of the reverberating percussion on "Drum and the Uncomfortable Can" explodes before the soaring feedback has a chance to sear through the song. Disorienting, syncopated mumblings only add to the track's intensity. So how do you end an album this eclectic without completely abandoning it or changing the mood? "The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack." After "To Hold You, Drum" begrudgingly fades away, soft guitars ride the relative calm before the storm. Their staccato bounce is accompanied by a gentle chorus and comforting vocals: "I won't run far / I can always be found / If you need me / I can always be found:" Without previously estab- lishing the album's sine-wave flow, "The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack" might have been horribly out of place and confusing. Luckily, the Liars told us it was coming throughout the record. Where can the Liars go from here? If Drowned truly is unlistenable - which, for the record, it isn't - the bar wasn't very high for Drum's Not Dead. So coming off of this masterpiece, a totally unexpected one at that, will be difficult, if not damn near impos- sible. But as we've just seen, the Liars do their best work rising from the ashes. i ts been more than a month since my last recap of celebrity "news" (sorry, I'm lazy), and sadly, the big stars haven't brought anything new to fill celebrity tab- loids and websites. Britney Spears is still regressing into her white- trash youth while attempting to reel in her freeloading husband. Tom Cruise is still preparing for inter- galactic war and is ready to eat any "heathens" (children especially - they're our future) who speak disapprovingly of Scientology. And Brad: Pitt and Angelina Jolie have yet to exchange blood in a public cer- emony or spawn the beautiful child Us Weekly will likely refer to as our savior. Instead, it's been some of the smaller and Pu newer names in enter- MA2 tainment who've kept us busy in the checkout line. Pete Wentz, of perennial emo- rock favorite Fall Out Boy, made news for pulling a Paris Hilton recently when incriminating pic- tures he took of himself using his Sidekick phone ended up on the Internet. For Wentz and his embarrassing asymmetrical haircut (worthy of the finest anime), the incident fortunately didn't gain as much attention as Hilton's snaps outside of a legion of Hot Topic- clad teens taking a break from discussing their favorite "Napoleon Dynamite" quotes before sullenly returning to their LiveJournals. In other revealing news, Victoria's Secret model/goddess Adriana Lima said in an interview with GQ Magazine that "sex is for after mar- riage," and that any men she had dated before had to respect her strict Catholic beliefs or the relationship wouldn't work. The voluptuous Brazilian counts New York Yankee Derek Jeter as one of the former flames who wasn't able to swipe her V-card. Somewhere, I'm sure Alex Rodriguez is breathing a sigh of relief. That A-Rod's a jealous one. N TT Lima should instead look over to her fashion counterpart, Kate Moss, for lessons on proper model behavior. First rule: Coke is your only food group. Second rule: Lesbian sex with other models is a must. Third rule: Don't listen to ugly people. Moss's former agent revealed in the U.K.'s Sun newspaper that she stashed cocaine, ecstasy and the date-rape drug Rohypnol in a $100,000 Faberg6 egg while on a charity visit to South Afri- ca for Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund in 1998. Moss followed up the charity event by retreating to her suite, and in a coke- fueled haze, spent the night with crazed super- model Naomi Campbell. Ah, nothing says "think of the children" IT like a story worthy of its own late-night Cinemax 0 film. Hollywood's biggest annual party, the Oscars, didn't feature some of the usual antics of previous years. But with gatecrasher Three 6 Mafia ready to celebrate an upset win for the ages, you knew they would make some news. And who better revel in the vic- tory with than Hilton. Videos obtained by burgeoning celebrity website TMZ.com show the socialite dancing onstage with Juicy J in that awkward, embarrassing way only tall, anorexic white girls can. Three 6's celebrations didn't only include Hilton, though. Famed author and infidel Salman Rush- die spent the evening discussing the group's surprising victory and revealing that he had wanted them to win. The pairing might seem odd: Amoral Southern rap kingpins and an award-winning author tar- geted with death threats for insult- ing Islam. But as Rushdie can tell you, there's nothing harder for a pimp than a price on his head. - Mattoo is running out of decent gossip. Tip him off at mattoop@umich.edu. Not really the 'Man' By Sarah Schwartz Daily Arts Writer Yeahs craft modest album By Matt Emery Daily Arts Writer "She's the Man" opens on a beach filled with beautiful people and Viola (Amanda Bynes, "What a Girl Wants") playing soc- cer in a bikini. Then there's Duke (Chan- ning Tatum, "Coach Carter"), her very attractive love inter- est who's convenient- She's the Man At the Showcase and Quality 16 DreamWorks Courtesy of DreamWorks ly shirtless for most of the film. Any doubt as to what this movie is or where it's going flies out the window after minute three. And considering the creative forces behind the movie, "She's the Man" is a letdown. Written by the team who suc- cessfully updated William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" into "10 Things I Hate About You," the film attempts a similar modernization of his gender-bending "Twelfth Night." But while it keeps the gender-conflict quo- tient, it lacks the wit and sexual frankness that made "10 Things" a far better movie. That's not to say that "She's the Man" isn't fun to watch (shirtless Duke is the fantasy of most 12-year-old girls), but any hope for a movie about social awareness or gen- der issues is gone. Some "girl power" does come into play when Viola's school soccer team dissolves for lack of interest. Undeterred, Viola turns to the boy's team, but is told that girls can't play because they are not fast or good "0MG! Facial hair!" enough. Eager to prove them wrong, Viola pretends to be her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk, "X2: X-Men United) and signs up for the team of a rival school. Will Viola be good enough to get on first string? Will she be able to pass for a guy? Will Duke ever put on a shirt? Complicating matters are the grow- ing feelings of "Sebastian's" new friend Olivia (Laura Ramsey, "Lords of Dog- town") for "Sebastian," while Viola's own feelings blossom for her new roommate Duke. While Olivia presents an obstacle, the audience is less likely to hate her than simply wonder as to why she feels so strongly for the wiry and effeminate "Sebastian" in the first place. True, "he" knows what to say to a girl, but Bynes's gender transformation culminates in what appears to be a pre-pubescent 12-year- old. A wig and sideburns can't disguise her perkiness, her "guy voice" changes in every scene and her repeated greetings of "bro" are cringe-worthy. Awkwardness pretty much sums up the interaction between most of the characters, as Viola's inability to stay in guy mode long enough lends itself to wince-induc- ing moments. Even Duke falls prey to the movie's discomfort. He becomes tongue- tied when talking to Olivia, he's self-con- scious when around others and spouts inspirational quotes at odd moments - like quoting Shakespeare right before the game-winning goal. Yes, this is a parallel universe where jocks have hearts, and dreadlock-donned soccer stars fall in love with geeky lab partners and the hysterical David Cross (TV's "Arrested Development") gets to be a principal and sing a song. This is also a world of the pretty people; it would be a damn shame if they didn't all live hap- pily ever after. So maybe "She's the Man" attempts to combine girl power and ball- gowns into a single character. And maybe no one in the film ever notices that Olivia had feelings for a girl and Duke may have felt something for a boy. In the end, no audience will be looking for gender poli- tics when the bikinis come out and the soccer shirts come off. When the Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced their follow- kIRS. up to 2003's Fever to Tell was going to be a concept album pivoting around lead singer . Karen O's cat Coco, critics and fans Yeah Yeah