Record Review: Blood on the Wall - Liferz

Rating: 2.4 / 10.0

I've been wrong before. I've been late to jump on a lot of bandwagons. But I'm aware of it. I've come to instinctively second-guess myself when I listen to and don't like a record. I always ask myself, "Is this really not good, or are you just not giving it a fair shake?" What I've learned is that usually, after a few listens to a record, you come to understand its merits and charms. So, more often than not, I find that records that I initially don't like end up being records that I respect, appreciate, and enjoy listening to (even if they aren't necessarily hot favourites). Sometimes, though, I just don't like a record, and I'm pretty sure that I don't like it because it's just not...good. Brooklyn-based Blood on the Wall's latest effort, released through The Social Registry label, is the latter kind of record.

It's not challenging. It's just garage rock infused with an unhealthy, grating dose of teen-like angst brought to you by three people who have listened to way too much Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Blood on the Wall wish they had the appeal of YYYs, but none of them are half as proficient as the corresponding member of YYYs are on their respective instruments. Neither Courtney nor Brad Shanks can even begin to approach Karen O's calibre of vocal delivery; they just end up screaming a lot. Their arrangements are asinine, uninteresting and droning, which means that every song sounds strangely like the one that preceded it. Their banal hooks and ridiculous lyrics belie not only their lack of songwritng talent, but also the fact that they are trying way too hard to sound like the latest, greatest, devil-may-care garage band. In a nutshell, this record simultaneously forced and lazy, sophomoric and overwrought.

To be fair, Liferz is not a total wash. The title track is halfway decent. It's the only instant on the record where Blood on the Wall seem to have some conception of their limited strengths, and stick to them. On this track, they sound almost (almost) halfway like the Sonic Youth/YYYs lovechild they dream of being. And when they just chill the fuck out for a bit on "Lightning Song," it's the best minute and forty-nine seconds on the album. Courtney Banks sounds less like Karen O with strep throat, and more like a female Thurston Moore. Something to be aware of, maybe, for the next record.

At the end of the day though, Liferz is little more than Blood on the Wall's grandiose vision of what they should sound like and what their image should be confounded by their lack of talent. They draw from too many disparate influences without bringing anything of their own to the table to tie it all together. The result is a record that no one need worry about missing out on.


-PTC