Sunday, November 8, 2009

I Got My Ass Kicked All Over Again

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While the Liquor Giants' definitive high point remains their two near-flawless CDs on Matador in the mid-to-late 90's, this early single nets a near-perfect score in its own right. In fact, if I was putting together a list of the best pop-rock songs ever-- starting with "September Gurls", "Another Girl, Another Planet", "God Only Knows", "Girl of My Dreams", and moving on from there-- "Just Might Cry" is making the list, also. Sounding somewhat like the Stones' "Monkey Man" if Big Star had recorded it, Ward Dotson's vivid tale of a guy getting kicked out by his girlfriend ("I'm out sleeping in my car, she's keeping my guitar... you know, I shoulda grabbed my shoes") wouldn't be nearly as great if the lyrics weren't so perfectly droll and spot-on. Much like "September Gurls", when you listen to "Just Might Cry" you can feel the hurt, even if at the same time it's doing you a favor by making you feel slightly better about yourself.


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Liquor Giants -

(this file is now listen-only)

"Just Might Cry"


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15 comments:

Shyster Bruce said...

ward dotson=classiest request to borrow an amp, ever.

Brushback said...

Whoa, you lent Ward Dotson an amp? Brush with greatness!!

Did you guys play a show with the Liquor Giants or something? When was that?

Shyster Bruce said...

Yeppers! at the Beat in Portchester. he got my # from the promoter, and called WELL IN ADVANCE asking to borrow an amp, even offering financial compensation.

class act.

I loved the Beat, it was a welcome respite from the pseudo-intellectualism of the 90's Danbury scene.

Brushback said...

I'm trying to remember The Beat... is that the club the Sheridan brothers had, after the Anthrax? If so, then I went there a couple of times. Didn't notice any missing pseudo-intellectuals, though.

Scenes are shit, until you don't have one.

Shyster Bruce said...

I think they may have booked a handful of gigs there...it was right up the street from Marty's.

danbury could be elitist at times, but marty's was where you would climb in the supersuckers van and smoke pot.

Brushback said...

Yeah, the place that I remember that the Sheridans had was on the same street as some Webster Theater/Toad's-looking type place. I think they even shared a parking lot.

My cure for elitism is to drop out every couple of years-- once people start getting too familiar-- and then coming back 5 years later when everyone you knew is now gone. Dunno if it's worked out all that well, but I still keep trying it.

Holly said...

If you happen to have a copy of the Pontiac Brothers' Doll Hut LP, "Almost Human" is a great cut that kinda goes with this one..sorta...

Anyway, thanks for posting!

Brushback said...

I don't have "Doll Hut", I've got "Big Black River" (which I think is almost the same thing).

I never noticed the similarity-- I'll have to go back and give it a listen...

Anonymous said...

Is the Robert who reviewed this in Seven Robert Griffin of Scat Records fame?

Brushback said...

Yes, Seven was Robert Griffin's fanzine back in the late 80's - early 90's.

Outside of some random issues of Ink Disease and what not, it's the only 80's zine that I still have all my copies of...

Anonymous said...

Robert has always had a great ear for quality power pop - have you heard his reissue of the Mice "For Almost Ever Scooter"? He just reissued Bill Fox's "Shelter From The Smoke" too, and I highly recommend both.

Brushback said...

Scat's an amazing label, always a good job-- packaging, pressing, the tunes, everything.


I'd heard the Mice stuff back when it first came out and I wasn't really that into it, but my tastes have changed so now, who knows...

Anonymous said...

Maybe you know this - is the uncredited track at the end of the Liquor Giants' self-titled 1996 album a cover? If so, do you know who wrote it?

Brushback said...

"Hold Tight!" by Dave Dee-- yes, it's a cover.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich is actually the full band name...

Brushback said...

The mp3 file on this post is now a listen-only (non-downloadable) file. For those of you who missed the boat, I will do my best to respond to any e-mailed requests for the original file.

If you click on the link for the listen-only file, you'll see how the front cover scan is actually supposed to look. I don't know why Blogger always screws up the color red, but it does.