Gallantly Streaming: Liars, The Hives, White Lungs

Since the flow of actual, exciting rock music news is sort of slow lately, and since I don't want the old blog to stagnate, I figured I'd take this opportunity to point you toward some album streams.  This way, I get "blog post" ticked off the to-do list, and you get to listen to some tunes.  Deal?


First up, we have the stream of Liars' WIXIW.  It's their sixth album, and promises to be one of the most interesting and divisive listens of the year.  Of course, they're no stranger to danger when it comes to their audience; this is the same highly touted buzz band that razed their much rejoiced dance-punk sound to the ground on their sophomore album They Were Wrong So We Drowned, droning on about witches and blood.  First single No. 1 Against The Rush was decidedly more electronic than we're used to by the band, and the rest of the album is very much in the same vein.  It's beat-heavy, chock full of atmosphere, and just about completely devoid of guitars.  Confounding and exciting at the same time, WIXIW sort of sounds like The King Of Limbs, had Radiohead been the same adventurous crew they were ten years ago.


Stream Liars' WIXIW here.

Next, we have the new Hives album, Lex Hives.  I've always been sort of on the fence when it comes to the Swedish garage rockers because every one of their albums is the same. They seem to have one or two genuinely interesting and great ideas (1000 Answers is a punk rock space junk masterpiece... that will make a little more sense when you hear it), but they can't shake the notion that they have to resurrect old songs and call them their own (Go Right Ahead steals from E.L.O., I Want More steals from AC/DC).  Then there are moments that are embarrassingly goofy (like the silly and unnecessary background vocal on Wait A Minute).  Like always, The Hives are at their best when they're channeling their inner Stooges; Patrolling Days, These Spectacles Reveal The Nostalgics and If I Had A Cent bring the snarl and swagger that put The Hives on the map.

In the end, Lex Hives is no better or worse than anything else they've done, and if you've heard their other albums you know exactly what to expect; a handful of solid tracks, a couple of painfully-close-to-the-infulence rockers, and a couple of cringe-worthy bad ideas.

Stream The Hives' Lex Hives here.

With those two releases garnering the bulk of the attention, perhaps in this case the little guy (in this case, girl) steals the show.  Sorry is the sophomore album by female fronted Vancouver punks White Lung, and tears through its ten tracks in just 19 minutes.  Make no mistake, though; that slight running time packs one hell of a punch.  It might not be the heaviest, fastest or most abrasive album you hear this year, but it's certainly one of the most astonishing balances of hooks and heavy you'll bear witness to; by the time you get to third track Thick Lip, you might forget The Distillers ever existed.

Stream White Lung's Sorry here.