Eating Their Words

Photo of Angus and Julian eating the sleeve off their latest single by the Liars.

When you’re the eight-foot tall singer in the Liars with a tendency towards manic on-stage behaviour, you tend to burn a lot of energy and get really hungry. When, on top of this, you enjoy the odd pipe, it can get to the point of wanting to eat an entire cow—no matter how long it takes. The extent to which this influenced the Liar’s decision to make the sleeve of their latest single, It Fit When I Was A Kid, edible is hard to say but, they did, and if you get your hands on a copy, you’ll find it tastes like a cross between salty water and Violet Crumble. Their new album, Drums Not Dead, is waaaay more chilled than anything they have done before and there’s something about the persistence of two drum kits underneath droning vocals that’s completely mesmerising—to the point of making you want to listen to it all day. It’s a good thing too because the album comes with a DVD, which includes three film versions of the album (two by members of the band, Angus and Julian and another by film maker Markus Wambsganss) so it actually does take you pretty much all day to get through the whole thing. The band moved from New York to Berlin a few years ago and they’ve been learning how to pronounce the names of their favourite restaurants since. Vice: How are you finding the food in Germany? Angus: I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I’m completely in my element. There are so many sausages here it’s ridiculous. The Kranskys are amazing. What do you get into when you get the munchies after a big session? Well, there’s this particular type of chocolate powder that makes this incredible chocolate drink and everybody has it on the kitchen table—it’s totally standard. My life is overflowing with chocolate milk. What’s the best rider you’ve ever been given? It would have to be in Italy. They always pull out the finest meats and wines. They know how to eat. Being an Aussie, is there any food you miss from here? Of course. Meat pies and sausage rolls. BETH WARTON
The Liars’ new album, Drums Not Dead is out through Mute/EMI.