Leeds based Sam Hutchinson has had a winding road to get to his current collaboration with fellow musician Nigel Passey as part of the uber-smooth top quality duo, Hot Liquor Tank.

From hitting the soundwaves as part of promising band Son’s Arcade a few years back, Sam brushed himself up to a smoother, more classic rock sound as a solo artist, and on his gigging travels met up and started performing and writing with fellow musical traveller Nigel Passey for a further joint venture.

The duos debut EP What You Say Goes is just total quality. If you like your rock smoothed over a little (perhaps we could call it ‘large pebble’) with echoes tracing back to those rock greats like Stereophonics and Springsteen, then Hot Liquor Tank could become your tipple.

I’ve been promising myself a write up of this lively and varied EP for a while. While it extends out to the softer edge of my musical ear, What You Say Goes is a quality EP which should not be overlooked. There is sheer variety and insight within.

Are You Awake opens the EP and it’s a nice rolling energetic tune. Definitely a car drive time track and Sam’s vocals are top notch on this song. There’s a very cool nod back to those classic 80’s rock tracks while retaining a current edge.

The lyrics to Are You Awake speak of someone thinking back to happier more positive days where you might dream of tomorrow but live for today.

Hot Liquor Tank do have a knack of often creating a line in their lyric that refuses to fade; like the Cheshire Cat smile, there’s a thought or image which lingers in your mind long after the melody has moved on.

The proper closing track to the EP is dripping with cool understatement. Keep Telling Myself is such a lush calm ballad. It’s a beautiful lyric about someone who reflects upon their mess of their life. Are they in a cell or a cheap rented bedroom, ruminating upon too many beery nights and a failed lost love?

We all perhaps have glass half empty moments (although perhaps not often as low as this one), and imaginatively this track strikes with that sobering sense of clarity you sometimes get when you coldly idly survey the car crash of life. You can be at the bottom of a valley but see for miles with this song.

Far From Now is another slower ballad, and a track released ahead of the EP. This song has a alt folk feel almost with a vibe that makes me think of Mumford and Sons perhaps, only without the twiddle-le-de. This track offers a sweeping soaring vibe, a total car tune driving across the moors.

I think the clever thing about this 6 track EP (I missed writing about lively rocker High Roller and nicely stripped demos of Are You Awake and Keep Telling Myself) is that variety and quality of Hot Liquor Tank shines through. I know Sam and Nigel are excited for the future of this collaboration and deservedly so.

* words by tiggerligger

* Photos from the band’s media