Lies "Lies"

Only a glance at the vast catalogs of cousins Mike and Nate Kinsella shows how wide their musical interests have always been, from the idiosyncratic experiments of Nate's Birthmark and his time in the great Make Believe to Mike's twisting path among Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls, and Owen. But at least right now, Nate and Mike's most recognizable work together may be their contributions to American Football, a band that entered it's celebrated second act after a 14-year absence. LIES, the new Kinsella cousin duo, represents the first time they have written together without anyone else. What's more, their gripping self-titled debut, Lies, rewrites the way Nate and Mike are expected to sound, breaking free of what could have come to define them. Pulling from influences such as My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Robyn and others, the album is full of explosive but intricate pop songs, their striking hooks nested in glorious composites of keyboard melodies and digital textures, powerhouse rhythms and sweeping strings. Lies charts the sometimes-difficult terrain of what it is to navigate a relationship, to power past feelings of deceit and doubt and move forward, toward an amorphous hope.