So I was looking over my year-end list this morning, and I realized that I'm just going to have to admit that I'm a rockist. No Daft Punk. No Kanye. Nary a bleep nor a bloop. My rockism, though, doesn't even come close to that of New Jersey quintet Liquor Store. I listened to the band's latest, In The Garden, with a pretty large smile on my face this morning; and I had to mention it.
Founded by former Titus Andronicus drummer (a guitarist here) Sarim Al-Rawi, Liquor Store feature a three-guitar attack that un-ironically cribs from the likes of Thin Lizzy, Molly Hatchet, and Bruce Springsteen. The cover of their sophomore effort features what looks like a colorful velvet painting of a seven-headed cobra -- complete with an LS-shaped lightning bolt on its belly -- rising up in the midst of an electrical storm.
The record opens with the pianos, tambourines, harmonicas, and southern rock style string bends of "Satin Dollars." Standout tracks "Keys to the Face" and "Pile of Dirt"-- each clocking over five minutes -- take full advantage of Liquor Store's guitar-centric approach, and song titles like "Vodka Beach" and "Titty Was Loc'd" tell you all you need to know about the band's attitude. Epic album-closer "Midnight Walker" is six minutes of group vocals and guitar riffage that give you an idea of what Diarrhea Planet would sound like if the 90s never happened. In The Garden comes in at a tight 35 minutes and, basically, doesn't let up for a single slickly-produced one of them.
Sometimes you want to emo out to the innermost thoughts of that singer / songwriter. Other times you may want to bliss out to the programming prowess of some electronic act. But for those times when you just want to rock out like it's 1978, there's Liquor Store's In The Garden. Given the band's current home base and the overall air-guitaring, fist-pumping feel of the record, I can't help but wonder if the album's title couldn't have been In The Garden (State).
Liquor Store's In The Garden is out now on Almost Ready Records.
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