It is reasonable in an increasingly unreasonable world to crave nostalgia. As AI and surveillance technologies continue to invade our lives and each day’s news cycle is more absurd than the last, sometimes you have to sit back and pretend it’s 1974, when tech billionaires were mere fantasy and people could afford homes.
Those daydreams of faded blue jeans, ditch weed and muscle cars are only a listen away on Liar’s Curse, the latest EP from Morrison, Illinois-based heavy rock group Strange News.
This proto-metal quartet is still relatively new, with only a demo from 2024 preceding Liar’s Curse, but their combined experience makes them sound far more realized than you’d expect. For instance, guitarist/vocalist Sara Adams, who also did the cover artwork for the album, was formerly a member of underground doom metal mainstays The Obsessed. Loren Thatcher (bass/vocals), Colin Wolf (guitars) and Justin Lange (drums) join, fully equipped with their own musical backgrounds to form a quartet worthy of labels like Riding Easy Records or Tee Pee.
This is immediately apparent on “MK Baby,” which feels like a buried treasure in your dad’s old cassette collection. Led by Thatcher’s driving bass and Lemmy-indebted voice, he narrates MK Ultra hallucinations amid scorching guitars and hand claps. Abrams takes the vocal lead on the titular “Liar’s Curse,” leading the band into a bouncier and groove-laden track that calls to mind the fantasy rock themes of ’70s English bands like Uriah Heep or Rainbow.
“Death Rides The Winds Of September” tilts into a blues-rock inspired riff that would probably sound perfect out of a Pontiac GTO’s speakers. It is one of my favorite riffs of 2025, hooky and infectious. Strange News shows off some guitar heroics in this cut, delivering a dual-lead guitar solo that makes me long for Thin Lizzy.
However, it is the more doom-forward closing song, “Vinegar Hound,” that steals my heart, harkening back to early Black Sabbath with its slower pace and classic doom riffs. Those who worship the altar of Iommi will find a lot to love here, as the song weaves through multiple parts before a punchy verse kicks in with Thatcher and Abrams sharing lead vocals. The solos are gnarly without being showy, leaning into the slow, heavy psychedelia that gave way to heavy metal.
I don’t remember the last time I heard a debut EP that shows this much promise. In fact, Strange News sounds fully realized out of the gate on Liar’s Curse. Though the project is just over 20 minutes, each track is a world unto itself, unmistakably the same band, but also distinct and thrilling. It brings welcome variety in late 2025, when so many bands are playing to algorithms and sounding dull and boring in the process. Thankfully, Strange News is out here keeping rock ‘n’ roll alive and kicking, even in tight, boot-cut denim.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s January 2026 issue.
