Gallon Drunk - Tonite...The Singles Bar (CD)

All Music Guide

One thing that can't be said about Gallon Drunk is that they're easy to listen to far from it. The sound the band produces verges on coherency at times, but without enough of a focus to actually slap a definition on it. Tom Waits, the Pogues, the Sex Pistols, a hundred surf bands, the Kingsmen, the Troggs, the Stranglers and a halfdozen drunk Irish poets...Gallon Drunk have elements of all the above, with the result that the sound veers from repulsive to crazily attractive in a very primitive way. Giving this collection of their single releases more than a fighting chance is worth the work, though. While tracks like "Snakepit," hailing from their early days, are raw and obnoxious, there are also serious surprises and eyeopeners to be had Gallon Drunk's version of "Miserlou" is a slow, dark pulse that makes it the high point of the album.