Giveaway: Win Happy Hour with the Band at the Liars / No Age Show on Saturday

Apropos of its one-word title, Liars is stripped-down LA rock, somewhat removed from the murk of the earlier records but no less confrontational in its artistic intent. Despite the fact that Liars leaked four months before its release date, the album has sold well and, more importantly, is giving art rock a good name again, for the time being anyway. The tornado-in-a-tin-can opener “Plaster Casts Of Everything” and post-shoegaze anthem “Freak Out” both sound almost like something your black-sheep uncle would have blasted out of his Camaro in the '70s, at least until the bizzaro falsetto vocals and intentionally scuzzy production kick in. Live, the set translates into blistering noise-punk delivered at full-tilt by two multi-instrumentalists and one impossibly tall, hyperactive Aussie, possibly engaging in elaborate cross-dressing antics.

Liars have no doubt been an inspiration to fellow Angelinos No Age. The power-punk duo of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Spunt have almost single-handedly made L.A. safe again for punk rock, heading the scene encircled around the now-infamous venue The Smell. Last year’s acclaimed Weirdo Rippers album, compiled from EPs which were mostly recorded at The Smell during off-hours, rides waves of white noise around and under Cobain-esque hooks and abstract, yelpy vocals—Randall and Spunt (what a combination) are both in their mid-twenties, but play with the exuberance of kids half their age. But for every amp-shredding thrasher like "Boy Void" or "Every Artist Needs A Tragedy," there are a couple minutes of wafting ambient tone that sound like falling asleep on the beach after midnight.

Want proof that The Mohawk is totally owning the north end of Red River these days? Both of these bands are playing what is destined to be a shoulder-to-shoulder show there, this Saturday. Aaaaaaand, as mentioned before, we happen to be hosting a Happy Hour with Liars prior to the show. Now, we can’t promise that you guys will have anything in common…maybe after awhile it won’t work out, and you’ll agree to just be friends. But sometimes you just have to get out of the house and see what happens, and who knows? It could change your life!

Well anyhow it’s not every day you see a 6’6” Australian man wearing a housedress (maybe). Enter:

Congratulations to our winners - See you on Saturday!