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10.0
63810
10.0 |
musicOMH
This is undoubtedly Liars’ most engaging work, and certainly the best Mute album since, well, WIXIW
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9.0
63905
9.0 |
No Ripcord
Liars remain a lasting and distinguished presence, one that continues to question the confinement of genre and fashions their identity around a refusal to do so
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8.5
63831
8.5 |
The Quietus
If WIXIW was Liars opening themselves up to a certain degree of vulnerability, Mess is them embracing this nakedness: bouncing from the walls starkers, maniacal grins plastered across their faces
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8.5
63970
8.5 |
Under The Radar
If it seems inappropriate to frame Liars as pranksters when the emotions they elicit are as serious as cancer, Mess asserts that their greatness comes from both sides of that coin
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8.5
64190
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Mess is characteristically confident and brash, but humane and enduring. In short, it’s up there with the rest of their unerringly brilliant back-catalogue
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8.3
64024
8.3 |
Pretty Much Amazing
As the trio continue to remould and refine their craft, Mess, an album fuelled by impulse, demonstrates their ideological core hasn’t moved an inch
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8.0
63964
8.0 |
NME
It's hard to hold any of their albums aloft as a defining statement. But if there’s a record that sums up the spirit of Liars – that dedication to unsettling, disorientating anarchy – ‘Mess’ may just be it
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8.0
64134
8.0 |
All Music
Given that Mess originated from Liars messing around in the studio, it's a more spontaneous, accessible set of songs than they've delivered in some time
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8.0
64702
8.0 |
The Music
The incredibly dense menace that pervades the second half of the album is much stronger than the electroclash elements up fron
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8.0
64759
8.0 |
State
Mess hammers the beats home, largely in dense, industrial style that at times references ‘80s synthpop, with Angus Andrew’s vocal bared in various guises
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8.0
63811
8.0 |
DIY
With overwhelming confidence the Brooklyn-based trio present 11 songs of unerring quality and an almost uncountable numbers of flicks and tricks
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8.0
63812
8.0 |
The Skinny
Crucially, the trio don’t sound like a rock band experimenting with synths; Mess sounds like synths are experimenting with the band
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8.0
63813
8.0 |
Clash
Another ambitious statement from a band that has made a habit of reinventing themselves at every stage, while still, somehow, sounding uniquely like Liars
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8.0
63809
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Broodingly singular dance music/not dance music, it’s another fine album from Liars
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8.0
63910
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
It's another welcome reversal for a band that, while keeping true to the same program of intense macabre album after album, keeps finding new ways to vary their ominous approach
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8.0
63911
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Liars revel in keeping their listeners on edge and entertained making Mess their most wickedly enjoyable album yet
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8.0
63852
8.0 |
The FT
An edgy air of unpredictability hangs over proceedings
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7.9
63848
7.9 |
Earbuddy
Sure, this record might be fun, but it’s the kind of fun being had by a kid holding a magnifying glass over ants
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7.5
63959
7.5 |
A.V. Club
More than anything, Mess is impactful commentary about the contemporary tendency to consume culture passively
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7.5
63807
7.5 |
The 405
Whilst WIXIW possessed great entangling structures and overarching themes in texture that unified the whole album, Mess is constructed by linear development and an amalgamation of repetitive motifs
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7.0
63952
7.0 |
PopMatters
As Liars continue their hiatus from the trappings of rock with Mess, they’ve created what is without a doubt their least innovative and least gloriously messy album
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7.0
64415
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Here, they reach for a macabre death-disco vibe
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7.0
64032
7.0 |
Fact
Throughout, set-up follows massive pay-off follows set-up, and as a result, though the pace slows in its latter half to make way for more thoughtful fare, this is undoubtably the least subtle record of Liars’ career
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6.9
63906
6.9 |
Pitchfork
Mess can sound pretty tame compared to electronic acts which can be linked to their ultra-percussive, post-punk aesthetics such as Factory Floor or Fuck Buttons
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6.5
63808
6.5 |
Crack
It’s a good record, but if it’s not fearless and it’s not snarling, it’s not what we want from Liars
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6.0
63846
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
Liars could attract some new fans who wouldn’t dream of listening to punk funk or freak folk if their lives depended on it
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6.0
64016
6.0 |
Paste Magazine
The lion’s share of Mess’ first half is, by Liars’ own vaunted standards, uninspired
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5.0
64070
5.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Mess gets caught in an odd trap in that it’s neither patient nor nimble
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