Customer Reviews

Slouching Towards Liverpool

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Neo-psych punk turned popster Michael Quercio's (Salvation Army, The Three O'Clock, Permanent Green Light, Jupiter Effect) recorded contributions to the latter days of Game Theory, leader Scott Miller's previous band, are regrettably few, although Quercio can be heard on the now unfortunately rare GT compilation "Tinker to Evers to Chance." This remade some of the older songs from the band which presumably were recorded in the early 80s on sonically substandard (by 1990) equipment. Here, on this odds-and-ends EP, "The Come On" is the standout song, with his catchy effort standing up against the formidable competition of Miller.

The remainder of this allows you to hear, for the first time, a live cover (well, a radio session) of a GT song, "Erica's Word," can be heard. It differs little from the original on "Big Shot Chronicles," however. Neither do the live tracks from the first LF album then (1993) out, "Slit My Wrists" and "Autodeliria." They are both strong songs, and the vocals on the former and the fun of the latter make for enjoyable if not particularly revelatory moments,

As if to prove that all those Alex Chilton & Big Star comparisons suited him at least as well as Paul Westerberg, "Back of My Car" gets the nod here. It's straightforward and follows the original dutifully. It also shows, for me, that it was necessary for Miller (as for Westerberg) to grow beyond his "influence" if he was to endure as a lasting talent.

As the critics say, "for completists only." Nothing wrong here, but the excitement of LF is better conveyed on their densely constructed studio recordings. A posthumous live album of LF exists, the cleverly (of course) titled "From Ritual to Romance," this revealing the more bitter and then more daring period into which Miller would lead LF into after the early days recorded on the also cleverly titled "Slouching."