At some point, every punk band's need to scream,
bleed, and shit all over itself becomes hopelessly entangled in a desire to eat
real food and get a pat on the head. But Blood On The Wall doesn't worry about
such conundrums on its third full-length, Liferz. The band's sonic blade
of choice is a dull, rusty machete, and its art-contorted hooks are far from
friendly. Like the band's previous output, Liferz summons the serrated,
sloppy indie-rock of early Superchunk and Pavement while maintaining a polite
distance from its inspirations and its audience. There's a forcefield of
deranged cool around the band's jagged, homely pop implosions, although
"Lightning Songs" is a smoldering wreck that finds bassist Courtney Shanks
doing her best Kim Gordon come-on, and "Sorry Sorry Sarah" is almost violently
infectious. But the album's final three tracks—erupting in a vicious,
five-minute flame-bath called "Acid Fight"—leave no doubt that Blood On
The Wall can clean and cook what it kills.