Liars Academy - Demons

Sometimes there are bands and albums that you just kind of like, and you can’t explain why. There is nothing terribly original and nothing that would make you believe the album would be a significant success. But something about the band's sound; something about their style just makes you like the disc. Demons, the new album from Liars Academy, is just one of those discs; not great, not terrible, just somewhere in the middle of the road, but you like it anyway. There was a band called Funland that played around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in the 90’s. They never hit it big, and their biggest claim to fame is where the band members went on to play with after they broke up (Clark Vogeler went on to play with the Toadies, and Will Johnson went on to form Centromatic), but for one brief album they put together a group of songs that just seem to stick on your head. This album is a lot like that one. The first real song of note comes with “Dying As Fast As I Can,” a radio-friendly and catchy track that leads into a string of similarly formulated and melodic songs. “Ghosts Of Baltimore,” “The Accountant," and “Saturday Night” all have an infectious melody while not quite jumping to greatness. “People Are Games” is the highlight of the second half of the disc and sets up the slower tracks that finish off the disc. In short, this isn’t a great album, but it isn’t awful either. It’s just a straight ahead melodic rock album that some people will love and some people will be indifferent to. Although not terribly original and not spectacular, it entertained me, and when faced with nothing to listen to, I found myself grabbing it and taking it for a spin. [www.liarsacademy.com]