This two song 7″ was supposedly recorded on Easter day in 2003, but that might just be a gimmick the band came up with. Three years under the Bush administration make it hard to believe most anything you hear these days… Either way, the two tracks on this record are pretty good. Dark and impulsive post punk insired by bands like Joy Division. “Easter Island” is slow and beefy while “Chromosomatic” is a little more upbeat. Well worth checking out.
— Mike Haley :: Heart Attack #42
“Easter Island” (side A) is slow, dark, morbid, “goth-metal”. The vocals and lyrics are ominous, though as usual in much of the newer rock, I only knew them because they’re printed on the back of the cover. “Chromosomatic” (side B) is a bit faster and just a shade or two more “upbeat”, relatively speaking, though with the same scare imagery – “cloud(s) of razors, painful wounds, nameless sins…” Here and there are some “off-key” notes, but as I noted in my last review of his music, I guess that’s just the style Justin’s aiming for. Very nicely packaged in a cover featuring Justin’s own art & design, this disc was a really cool translucent orange-yellow. Mine was 5 of 500. I’m honored!
— James N. Dawson, Xeens And Things, #17
For five dollars, this CD is a steal. It’s cheaper than most cover charges, yet the sound you get is akin to being in some dank club watching the opener before the opener. One of those bands that you’ve never heard before, and you came early just to get a seat at the bar, one of three other people watching the band (this includes the bartender, doorman, and sound guy).
Don’t get me wrong — Erode + Disappear isn’t a bad album, and the rawness of it actually works it in its favor. If it was a polished and well-produced album, the inconsistencies and weakness might overpower the experience. As it stands, Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties have created an album that definitely sounds original. Nothing about it is hackneyed or overdone. Definitely a keeper.
A wild three piece led by a fuzz bass, Northern Liberties follows the hallowed footsteps of Baltimore’s Lungfish. Lyrical meanderings about the human existence and the confinements of definition set to monotonous tones – if it sounds pretentious, that’s because it probably is. Props for the Harry smith cover art, though.
— Punk Planet (Issue #56, July/August 2003)
This has an indescribable old quality to it. HICKEY comes to mind at certain points, given the diversity of the arrangements and the surreal bent of the lyrics, but it’s nowhere near that brilliant. I can hear some BUZZCOCKS, which I always enjoy, but for the most part this band refuses to define itself. I’ve always seen that as a good thing, but if you scare easy and don’t want your precious punk bands to play anything but GORILLA BISCUITS covers, avoid this. Still, I’m kind of partial to it.
— Reviewed by Max Tremblay
Maximumrocknroll (Issue #240, May 2003)
