Steve Gullick is a photographer of considerable renown, working with Nirvana, Mark E Smith, Mark Lanegan, The Cramps, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure and countless others too numerous to list here. My first exposure to Steve's musical output was via the two excellent collaborative albums he did with James Johnston (Gallon Drunk/PJ Harvey/Bad Seeds), 2021's We Travel Time and 2022'sEverybody’s Sunset, the former of which I reviewed for The Sleeping Shaman.
tenebrous LIAR have a revolving line-up with Gullick (Vocals/Guitar/Piano) the one constant being joined by Brendan Casey – Bass/Vocals, Aimee Lovric – Guitar/Vocals/Piano/Organ and Ben Edgar on Drums. The band have an extensive discography with multiple 7” singles, EPs as well as albums of which Hell Never Called is the long-awaited latest effort following 2017's the cut. Tours have also been conducted with the aforementioned Bad Seeds, Oxbow and Will Oldham.
'Soulcracker' mixes the sludgy Punk-Blues/Noise-Rock of bands like Surgery with the Garage Punk/Grunge of Mudhoney. Its heavy without being overwhelmingly so and makes for a fantastic opening track that screams, “WE'RE BACK!”. 'Thirteen' features squalls of feedback as well as Vocals not overly dissimilar to Kurt Cobain's. In this respect its more Bleach than it is Nevermind, reminding you that Nirvana had just as much dirt under the fingernails as they did catchy, radio friendly Pop hooks (or radio friendly unit shifters in their lingo). In the promo-notes Steve mentioned Jefferson Airplane and there's certainly an ample dose of Psychedelia present on 'The Waves'. A trippy jam of kaleidoscopic Stonerish sounds that rival the best works of Yawning Man and Samsara Blues Experiment, its an improvisational piece yet one with heart and depth as opposed to self-indulgent aimless noodling. 'Fourteen' the shortest track on the album at thirty seven seconds, consists of breathy Vocals accompanied by Bass and Acoustic Guitar. Not so much a song as an interlude, its a damn fine one nevertheless.
For those hankering after the sounds of Morphine and their brooding collection of Jazz infused Bluesy Alt-Rock, 'The Farmer' helps to scratch that itch. There's also a Drone element here which fans of Earth's post 2003 output will get something out of. Absolutely sublime and a personal favourite. 'What Am I?' is like a lo-fi version of Galaxie 500 with the emphasis less on Dreampop and more on Dark Country. Exquisite strings courtesy of composer Anthony Baden Saggers (Stray Ghost) further enhance the haunting effect present on this beautiful piece. 'Collision' brings The Stooges pioneering Proto-Punk to the party, the only thing missing being Iggy's distinctive sneering Vocals, by contrast 'The Terror' is an exercise in Guitar minimalism ala Neil Young's work on the Dead Man soundtrack. Two very different yet equally brilliant numbers. 'It Cuts Deep' is heartfelt and sombre, hitting a lot of the same territory to the late, great Mark Lanegan and 'The Nightshift' draws comparisons to early Sonic Youth's more No Wave orientated albums, particularly debut full-length Confusion is Sex as well as The Velvet Underground's pioneering experimental Art-Rock on White Light White Heat, simply divine. Tattooed Hearts' at over nine minutes is the album's lengthiest piece, recalling as it does Lou Reed solo tracks as 'Bottoming Out'. There's a languid effect to the music and Vocals which help give the whole thing a slacker vibe of the type which would make Dinosaur Jr envious.
Hell Never Called is excellent, packed with intelligent songwriting, musical diversity and a lack of pretension despite the ample experimentation. Never has the phrase 'good things come to those who wait' been more apt than it is here.
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