BILLY LIAR ＆ THE HAUNTED HEARTS “Billy Liar is one of my favorite songwriters. Powerful and honest.”– Tim Armstrong, Rancid In May of 2022, after a year of heavy touring across the US and Europe, Billy Liar and his band barricaded themselves into Big Dog Recordings studio just outside of Antwerp, Belgium with producer Joe McMahon (Smoke Or Fire). For seven days and nights they spilled blood, sweat, and beer into Billy’s new album, emerging only to stock up on more Brussels sprouts and cheap vodka. The end result is Crisis Actor, a cathartic ripper of a punk record about life, death, breaking up, and barely surviving the pandemic era. “I feel like we’ve all been living in crisis mode for the past few years,” Billy says about the album’s provocative title. “Hell, I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. And I feel like a bad actor most of the time, struggling to contain all my anxieties and inconsistencies.” Billy’s previous album, Some Legacy, earned him high praise from outlets like Brooklyn Vegan, Punknews.org, and Louder Than War. And it caught the attention of one of his favorite artists: solo songsmith Frank Turner. It was a full circle moment when Frank Turner—coincidentally touring through Belgium while Billy was in the studio—joined Billy to record guest vocals on a new track called “Negroni.” A track which, synchronistically, was written with references to some of Frank’s lyrics. Other guests on Crisis Actor include keyboardist Franz Nicolay (The Hold Steady / Against Me!) and guitarist Joe McMahon (Smoke or Fire). Meanwhile, drummer Robin Guy, who has played with everyone from Faith No More to Sham 69 to the Bay City Rollers, fought through the agony of cancer and chemotherapy to supply the album’s furious rhythm. The tracks on Crisis Actor run the gamut of emotions, as evidenced by songs like “Hogmanay.” The title is a traditional term for New Year’s Eve in Billy’s native Scotland, and the song blends melanch
