AMG Review of Hit Liquor

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

Hit Liquor is a five-song EP put out by Epic just prior to the release of Pony Express Record. The reason for its appearance was that Shudder to Think hadn't had any new product out since 1992's independent Get Your Goat, and Epic wanted to create a buzz for the band's first major-label release. Although it didn't really work out that way, the EP is a good, affordable introduction for newcomers, while longtime fans will want a copy because four of the five songs are demos/remakes unavailable anywhere else. The title track is the same version that appears on Pony Express Record, while old favorites "Heaven Here" and "Red House" are spirited, new two-track versions. And the two demos ("Kissi Penny" and "Full Body Anchor") are skeletons of the finished versions that would later appear. A short, 15-minute blast of Shudder to Think.