NO MORE BAD ARM FOR LIARS AND THIEVES - BY N.L. BELARDES February 19, 2005 9:10 pm -
Do you want to know about a high-energy Bakersfield band that should be playing at Freakfest? Someone said the scar on Sal’s arm has been a setback to this band really coming onto the scene. Well if it was, these guys are ready to pick-pocket your music ‘get-it-on’ and steal the show, and you’re going to get it on with them and they’re going to tell a whopper of a tale while they’re doing it, and you’re going to believe they are all rock stars. Believe it. That’s Liars and Thieves, a band who has been around for nearly two years but who are once again rocking Bakersfield like they never missed a show. Sidetracked from lead singer/guitarist Sal’s injured arm, Sal, Rahl and Nick are once again on the scene. It’s bands like Liars and Thieves, The Dalloways and The Filthies who have grabbed my attention the most over the past month. Like the other two bands, Liars and Thieves have a sound that’s all their own and tightly played. Once again, Bakersfield has come of age. Liars and Thieves’ music is tightly woven around grooving dancy basslines, hardcore fast-ripping guitar riffs that are part Latino, part punk, with upbeat melodic vocals and, a drummer…need I say more? Yes, a drummer who pounds it out with a stage presence I haven’t seen in anyone in Bakersfield, or any drummer for that matter in years. This drummer, Nick is an incredible guy to watch along with the high-energy antics of the rest of the band. Nick (AKA Tyler, or is it the other way around?) away from the set is funny, talkative and encouraging to meet. He dug my Star Wars coat like I was the bomb diddy Boba Fett daddy. Seriously, these guys have a great set that built up a strong crowd that flocked to the ambient Gigantic atmosphere. Their song Don’t stop get it is one of the catchiest tunes I have ever heard. The recording at My Space is killer, while the live rendition of it is incredible… this is fast music, ripped from their souls to yours. Let’s hope they play again real soon.