“Subtle” probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind to describe an album where half the tracks seem to have the amps turned to 11, but Liars’ subtlety, both soft and loud, is at the heart of what makes them such a compelling band. Never content to traffic in similar ideas from one album to the next, Sisterworld dispels any of the familiarity one might associate with their somewhat pop-leaning Liars. A concept album about the alternate spaces people create to survive in L.A., Sisterworld sustains an uneasy, contagious nausea for 42 minutes.

Opening track “Scissor” exemplifies the album’s backhanded creepiness. Blanketing Angus Andrews’ moans with eerie church choir “oohs,” the track explodes into a run of jagged guitar while Andrews transitions to disturbed falsetto. The song repeats the quick switch one more time to add to the discord.

“No Barrier Fun,” “Drip,” and “Goodnight Everything” all make their presence known not with onslaughts of noise, but through off-kilter percussion and Andrew’s belabored portrayals of a backwards, wrongheaded world. Liars puts their experience with feedback and noise to use in these songs, drafting nervous impressions of the messed up world outside.

As much as this album leans on ambience to establish its atmosphere, Liars has always been at their best when they let the guitars rip. Standout “Scarecrows On A Killer Slant” does just that, unleashing a torrent of thumping drums and guitars to match the song’s awesomely ominous title. Andrews drives home the point with a pair of vicious lyrics, shouting “Stand up in the street with a gun/And they kill ‘em all” and then “How can they be saved from the way they live everyday?”

Sisterworld is the first album Liars has recorded in the U.S. since 2004’s They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, and it crystallizes the paranoid undertone in America’s psyche that’s been building up since the turn of the century. Liars ensures their longevity by making music that reflects whatever environment they encounter, even when it’s as frightening as the one in Sisterworld.