Amanda Mack 
In 2019, when I heard Liily’s single “Toro” from their EP I Can Fool Anybody in This Town, I was pretty sure I knew what a full album from the band would sound like. But their much anticipated debut LP, TV or Not TV, is here and it is pretty damn determined to not sound anything like I imagined it would. And thank God. Their ideas about their debut were much better than mine.
In just twelve tracks and forty-three minutes, the members of Liily run the gamut of their collective influences, which at times seems like it could be Talking Heads, Parquet Courts or even The Prodigy, and other times, a pile of strangled trumpets. Vocalist Dylan Nash has put the more melodic singing done on past releases on the back burner in favor of a manic, spoken-word delivery, a cadence that stands out the most on the track “The Suit That Sold Itself,” which instructs like an unhinged “Cha-Cha Slide.” On an album that feels largely observational of the natures of others, “Anvil” feels like the most personal observation of Dylan’s own destructive character, done appropriately under shimmery guitars and echoey, pensive vocals.
I don’t normally think about how an album is going to translate live unless it’s apparent that it’s been layered too high in the studio to be unpeeled for any satisfying, real-world rendition. But hearing these songs performed out of the studio setting was the first thing I thought about because the post-punk sensibilities have such an undeniable pulse. The intention of unleashing them to be moved, jumped and moshed to by an audience felt so deeply considered by the band. The guys in Liily were mindful of creating a raucousness that could only thrive without the gloss of production. That may seem like an obvious thing to plan for when recording an album, but this was recorded at a time in human history when many people were thinking more about how to keep sane in their homes than how to affect anyone outside of it.
TV or Not TV is bound to go onto some important “best of” lists this year, and Liily has successfully melded enough of a kitchen sink emporium of influences into their debut to ensure they qualify for every last one of them.
TV or Not TV is out now through Flush Records.
Watch Liily’s video for “TV or Not TV” below:
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