The Liquorsmiths This Book Belongs To EP Review: Pure Storytelling

Americana and folk are genres that are drenched in soul. Not so much the genre, but the feeling, the notion that an artist is singing from the heart and telling real stories. The Liquorsmith’s new EP “This Book Belongs To” is an EP, that in spite of its lack of a real catchy track, is the type of album that never stops feeling real.

Powered by the Van Morrison-esque vocals of Drew Thams, the tracks have this comfy feel to them, resembling the type of coffee house crooning you’d hear in a San Francisco or Lower East Side coffee house. Those talents extend to the guitar as well as each track has a lick or two that draws you in. “Coy With Me” is a good example of this, as it’s simply a good story, with a smooth guitar line. Clayton Payne’s drum work is just as silky, making the song feel like a Blind Melon attempt at a ballad.

But like many of the tracks on the EP, it lacks a pure hook. It’s the type of song you’ll like, but you won’t have a part that’ll draw you in more than others. This hurts its overall radio appeal, but for those looking for an Americana act with more polish and “feel,” the Liquorsmiths have this in spades.

“Get Well Soon” is another track that has a great story. Feeling almost like a poem at times with lines like, “The hardest part of my day, is leaving, leaving the room in which you sleep, cause I sleep with you,” it quickly establishes an emotional connection with the listener. While this type of writing sometimes hurts their work (“Iris” rambles a bit too much and forgets itself amid its words) it works well here. The drum work on “Get Well Soon” is sharp, it’s the guitar work that sets up the pace and importance of the story. Again, smooth on vocals and polished on the guitar, Thams is able to draw you in. This time, however, with a clear hook, he shows casual Americana listeners he can adapt to a more conventional style.

Regardless of if Americana is your cup of coffee, The Liquorsmiths are an act that are hard to not respect. They’re not verbose and don’t waste time. The stories hit home and there aren’t many bells and whistles. It’s just good music.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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