Simple Machines Records | Liquorice reviews

Liquorice Reviews

LIQUORICE
Stalls 7"
From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 427 - May 16, 1995

The three members of Liquorice - Jenny Toomey (Tsunami/Grenadine), Dan Littleton (Ida), and Trey Many (His Name Is Alive) - all have impressive credits under their belts, so it's no surprise that the band's first effort contains three well-crafted pop songs. The chemistry between the three makes each song shine. "Stalls" features Toomey's delicate, folky vocals, while the more somber "Artifacts" showcases Littleton's passionate crooning style. The songs here reveal a band with promise; look for a full-length on 4AD this summer.
-JENNY ELISCU

LIQUORICE
Listening Cap CD/LP
From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 436 - Jul 24, 1995

Over the years, Tsunami's Jenny Toomey has collaborated with Daniel Littleton in various bands. Their latest joint effort is Liquorice - mostly a showcase for the quieter side of Toomey's songwriting, which doesn't get much play in Tsunami. These songs are built on the tensions that can be formed and resolved between two plugged-in acoustic guitars, wrapping unconventional chords around each other and suspending unresolved tones in midair. The sound of their guitars and Trey Many's drums is as sensitive as skin, and Toomey's voice is like a feather traced across it. Listening Cap's production (by Warren DeFever of His Name Is Alive) is tasteful but prominent: "Drive Around" is punctuated by two horrible scratching noises that pull it back to Earth when it threatens to get dreamy, and banjo, piano and peculiar keyboards appear in appropriate but unexpected places all over the record. Littleton contributes and sings a song of his own, "Breaking The Ice," but the album's highlight is an impossibly delicate cover of Franklin Bruno's marvelous, touching "Keeping The Weekend Free." Also uncap the simple, early-New Wave-flavored "Blew It," "Trump Suit" and "Team Player," which stops just short of naming names and seems to herald the end of the International Pop Underground's unified front.
-DOUGLAS WOLK

There's another Listening Cap review at www.popshots.org.