Liars ‘n Cheats, a head-smashing rock outfit out of Los Angeles, stormed the stage on October 14, 2007 at the Key Club, opening for the Wild Hearts. They played music that was loud, hard-hitting and high energy. You could hear a little Jet, L.A. Guns, Iggy Pop and some early Queen laced throughout their sound. Their music was catchy and had a fresh sound even when incorporating these various influences. Everything came together in a highly energetic stage show. Opening with a song called ‘Faster’ the band was extremely tight. There was a beautiful simplicity about this tune, AC/DC reminiscent right up to the Bon Scott-like vocals. The riff, the fantastic middle section, and ending vocal section were all highly memorable. The next tune, ‘Money’ was much the same vein in the sense that its main feature was that about half way through the track, it breaks into some serious high voltage rock ‘n roll. This break in style and the soft-to-hard dynamics were welcomed and immediately enjoyable. Singer, Mos, did his best Freddy Mercury imitation and used his soaring voice as an instrument to keep up with the band.
Their stage space was limited by the combination of theirs and Wild Heart’s equipment, but they made great use of what they had, making the stage seem a lot bigger than it was. Exuding a great amount of charisma and playing to the back of the house, thereby bringing everyone in. They actually made it look and feel more like an arena show. Watching Mos work the stage reminded me of something I heard Bruce Dickinson say once, about how the front man has to play to the people in the back row and make a large venue seem smaller, involving everyone in the audience ~ as being a great thing. They played a tune called Truck Stop which had a good hook, nice changes and I really liked the bass work on this track.
Formed in 2000, Liars ‘n Cheats were originally called ‘Dog Days.’ They 
recorded and released their debut album with Gilby Clark, ‘Broke In Hollywood’, who co-produced the album and played on it. Around 2005, after some typical band drama and some hardening life experiences, they decided to drop ‘Dog Days’ and go under the moniker ‘Liars ‘n Cheats’. After hearing their first CD, I would guess part of the problem was that is was that their old sound was a bit nondescript and recycled. So, with a fresh new name and a brand new drummer, they’ve successfully reinvented themselves. Mixing rock and roll with a dash of punk, the band has been playing incessantly around Los Angeles and has recently made their own CD. Wisely, they used the proceeds from sales of “Broke In Hollywood” to fund their latest release “All Our Heroes Are Dead.” In essence, Liars ‘n Cheats are their own label. This, unsurprisingly, like Fugazi, has attracted special interest. Since the release the band has had a song featured in a Miller-Lite ad and they even made their acting debut in the indie film, Road Dog. The LA based band is comprised of Mos (Lead Vocals), Joel Soul (Lead Guitar), Atushi (Rhythm Guitar), Sabby (Bass Guitar), and Sebastian (Drums). A fine young bunch.
On this new album, Liars ‘n Cheats stretches out their songwriting chops far more than on the first one with more “complete” originals here than before, and this yields mostly positive results. One thing about the songwriting on ‘All Our Heroes’ is that it isn’t at all profound, nor does it always even feel the need to make much sense. On some songs the words seem to have been pieced together with the ultimate goal of sounding cool when accompanied by guitars. But I’ll give it to them, it actually works. They’ve turned themselves into a respectable band simply for sticking to their guns, and really making the music that they want...not what record companies want.
Liars n’ Cheats has a stripped-down, straight ahead rock and roll sound and they play it well. During the track, ‘Broke In Hollywood’, Mos jumped 
into the crowd, completely circumnavigating the pit, all while continuing to sing. He blended the swagger and adrenaline of Iggy Pop and Joey Ramone which was just great fun to watch. I must mention Sabby the bass player, who was all over the place. Besides having a great sound, his presence was highlighted by his wild movements, (think Flea meets Steve Harris), before leaping across the stage and landing in a power slide. They played a tune called Free Form Radio. The guitars were consistently good with grinding riffs and infectious melodies. The song Taxi actually sounded a bit like Meatloaf in the guitar lines and vocal melody (I mean that in a good way). Sebastian the drummer, hit ‘em hard and in time during ‘All Our Heroes Are Dead’. The quality of a drummer, as far as I'm concerned, is manifested in the kind of rhythm provided when the rest of the band is playing; it has nothing to do with the amount of noise one can make while playing by oneself. Despite his Lynyrd Skynyrd look, (again, I mean that in a good way), he really fits in well with this band musically.
Liars ‘n Cheats put on an impressive live show of live, loud rock music, played well to a large, receptive crowd. They have some good songs and won over a lot of people that were there to see the headliner. I probably could have listened to a few more songs once their set ended. Live music is always a strong lure, if it’s rock, and it rocks, I'm there! Best I can say is, if Liars ‘n Cheats pass through your area, do not hesitate, get out there and see them. You won't be disappointed.
