They're not your typical shaggy haired, indie-pop, sweater vest-wearing guys. And they certainly aren't another Vancouver-based band you should overlook. Instead Young Liars are 5 guys that have found a way to fuse the sounds of electronic and catchy pop beats to something that doesn't resemble the other 100 bands creating the same sound. Just take a listen to their song "Colours" and you'll start to understand what I'm saying.

Young Liars is comprised of band members Jordan Raine, Tyler Badali, Andrew Beck, Angelo Ismirnioglou and Wesley Nickel. The first impression I received when meeting the members of the band was how nice these guys are. It's always a strange and somewhat nerve-racking feeling meeting someone for the first time, let alone 5 strangers, but their personalities just oozed nice. They are probably the 5 nicest guys living in Vancouver.

The meeting of the 5 nicest guys in Vancouver to form Young Liars would be a great VH1: Behind The Music biography. Andrew and Tyler went to the same high school, but never knew each other during Tyler's brief stay at the school. Coincidentally Andrew ended up playing with Tyler's old band.

"The first time I met Tyler, I was coming into band practice" Andrew remembers,

"and he was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time and they were yelling at each other. She said something like "What's more important to you? Me or your band?"

He said the band and he shuts the phone off and turns to us and says "Ok, lets practice"."

Andrew knew Jordan in a previous band they had played together in (yes, it seems that Andrew gets around). The 3 of them started playing together but realized another guitar player was needed. Craigslist was their answer. They found an ad placed by Angelo, who was looking to get into a band. The guys forced Angelo to drive 1 ½ hours to Maple Ridge for their first session. Angelo recalls, "at first I thought I can't do this. But as soon as I got there and we started jamming, I realized that I was going to have to suck it up." But something was still missing - a certain kind of "glue" perhaps?

Angelo met Wesley when he was 16 through their girlfriends at the time. They hadn't seen each other in years and randomly met at a dress up party in West Van. Cue scene: Wesley dressed as a French Man with 2 bottles of wine and Angelo in short shorts, singing "Hey Jude" together. Well one thing lead to another and Wes joined the band. Previous to Wes joining, the boys hadn't really gone anywhere with the band. Jordan explains that "ever since Wes had joined we actually did something. We had been a band and not done anything for a long time." Wes was the "glue" they were all looking for. Tyler actually called Wes "glue" for a long time after that.

Their first single "Colours" is a rare gem. It's the type of song that no matter how many times in a row you listen to it, its just not enough. It's the type of the song you wish you wrote if you are in a band. As catchy as "Colours" is, there's something so pure and simple to it. The simplicity of the song marks Young Liars as very capable and talented songwriters that know restraint. It's easy to over embellish and over produce a song, but these guys seem to have mastered a very nice balance between the two extremes.

Left to right: Tyler Badali (Drums), Wesley Nickel (Synths), Andrew Beck (Bass), Jordan Raine (Vocals/Guitar) and Angelo Ismirnioglou (Guitar)

Jordan talked a bit about the band's evolution as songwriters: "We had gone through lots of writing styles. "Colours" was the first song that came out of our new writing style. It was just a couple of us sitting at home with a laptop, vamping idea after idea. We then just came together as a group and jammed with the idea. I think you get a lot of bands, and we use to do this, where you play as a band all the time and you only get this loud, raw sound, and there's no delicacy to your tracks. I think "Colours" was a breakthrough for us. We had a chance to coax it in the studio."

Angelo sees this as the band's rebirth, where they began to write as a unit instead of writing individually - "We just started working together as a family." This realization was felt throughout the band, especially for Wes: "I learned to write music for other people. As a starting musician you mostly write music for yourself, but now it is realizing we want the public to enjoy our music as much as us. " For Tyler, a big part of writing is dealing with criticism.

Right now the focus for the band is the release of their debut EP in the fall. Andrew mentioned that while "we don't want to rush into anything, we do want to get the EP done as quickly as possible." During the writing stage for their EP, the guys revealed to me that David Bowie was constantly being played, while the sounds of synth legends New Order and The Cure found a way onto the album. Jordan admits that "there is a touch of 80's to our music. Not intentionally though." Tyler chimes in, telling us that the 80's influence may have to do with Jordan's voice: "I've heard from 3 different people that I've shown "Colours" to, they say your singer sounds like the Flock of Seagulls."

Along with the EP the band is also working on their live show. Its something they are all very excited for, and from the sounds of it, I'm looking forward to what they have in store. "It's going to be completely different from what we've done before" Wes tells me. "We want it to be a show, not just us playing music." As Angelo had mentioned earlier about the band's rebirth, he also brings the idea over to their live show.

The live show aspect of Young Liars is a pretty significant side to the band. Jordan provides us with more insight: "Our live shows are really important. We enjoy going to live shows. I find that a lot of bands are playing to tracks now, and while that can work out really well, I've seen a couple of shows where it just didn't do it for me. I come to see a band play live and I find that I'm listening to a recording? When people come to our shows I want it to be an experience. It's us putting on a show in the truest sense, trying to make it theatrical as possible." And that is why they have been known to use lasers. Yes, they put lasers on stage.

While there is truth behind Andrew's words, I think its safe to say that Young Liars don't have to worry about being Daft Punk - they're already pretty awesome in my books.

Another reason to catch these guys in action is to see lots of people pick up different instruments. They all play multiple instruments and enjoy jumping from instrument to instrument. "I love that part in the show. If no one else in the audience does, I still love it" Jordan adds. When I pushed further as to what we can expect from their live shows, well, Andrew had this to say: "We're working on some pretty interesting things." I guess I'll have to wait like everyone else.

At the end of the day the members of Young Liars are just a bunch of guys, doing what they love, and loving every minute of it with each other. "As a band we get along like a family. We are pretty much a family" Wes revels. "I've been with other projects before and I've never experienced this type of closeness that I do with these guys. That really works for us. You can spend an entire weekend in a studio together and love being in each other's presence." Angelo puts it in perspective:

Are they really just one big happy family? Well after getting to know them as a group, that's a definite yes. But Andrew jokes that "one day everything will just boil over. All the unspoken tensions and something will break.... Hey Wes, what's that axe for?"

The guys don't seem too worried about loosing momentum. I'm not either. With a band like this I don't think that will ever be a problem. But if there's one thing they want to be known for, it's their music: "We want our music to be timeless. If we go with certain music trends right away, it might not be as interesting in 10 years and nobody will listen to it anymore. We just hope people manage to get their hands on our EP and come to our next show."

Young Liars will be on tour from August 5th to the 10th. They are playing in Nanaimo, Duncan Garage, and Victoria. The are playing at the West Coast Rock Fest on August 7.

You can download the track "Colours" here. You can also check them out on Facebook and catch up with the band on their blog!