When
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers were forced off the road due to the global pandemic outbreak of early 2020,
Shook set about recording an album all on their own, from the writing stages through to performing, producing, and engineering (the only exception being some additional bass by
the Disarmers'
Aaron Oliva on select tracks). With
Shook adopting the solo moniker
Mightmare, the resulting
Cruel Liars is a departure from the vintage-outlaw-country-informed group, if the irrepressible twang of the singer's delivery remains. With
Shook newly sober, recently out as nonbinary, and able to find affordable therapy for the first time, they have plenty on their mind for a relatively dark, pensive eight-song set with track titles like "Come What May," "Make It Work," and "Enemy." At the same time, their style shifts squarely into indie rock territory with some surprising drifts into gloomy synth pop. The plodding "Make It Work," for instance, underscores low-range, distorted guitars and a detached vocal performance with electronic drums loops, synth strings, and twinkling keys. That song's chorus repeats the lines "If you wanna make it work/You're gonna hafta change some things." Its cautionary tone is matched by most of the record, including opener "Come What May," which airs relationship regrets while incorporating accordion into its post-punky palette. The even more surprising "Easy" is the under-half-hour album's one true outlier, as it ventures into a catchy and bittersweet borderline indie pop with lyrics to match, such as the chorus's "Beautiful dreams come true/It's so easy to love you." The personal-boundary-building closer, "Sure Thing," settles on something in between, combining both melodic piano and buzzy guitar behind the sentiment "The only thing I know for sure/Is there's no such thing as a sure thing," for a debut that invites further exploration of indie rock waters. ~ Marcy Donelson
