The plan is simple: take sharp-suited Orange County swingers LIT to an ultra-hip drinking den in the heart of London’s West End and ask them to road-test 10 of the finest alcoholic beverages know to man. This is what happened...

Life is sweet right now for Yank pop-pink sophisticates Lit. After nine years of busting their balls in every spit-and-sawdust club in California, the Orange County quartet- that’s brothers A.Jay and Jeremy Popoff on vocals and guitar respectively, plus bassist Kevin Baldes and drummer Allen Schellenberger- have finally bowled over an unsuspecting world with their irresistible anthem ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ and the technicolor thrills of their chick-cars-’n’-cocktails fueled album ‘A Place In The Sun.’

Indeed, if the quartet weren’t in Britain celebrating the Top 20 success of the aforementioned single, they’d be spending their free time gunning a gleaming Cadillac across Nevada desert to Las Vegas, hitting the craps tables with a fistful of Day-Glo plastic chips and gambling the night away. And once they’d blown their stash, they’d be off to a dimly-lit lounge to sip tall drinks and figure out exactly how they’re going to get back their car keys, apartment deeds and that engagement ring they’d promised to the blonde croupier on table seven...

All of which makes these super-slick hepcats the perfect band to road-test the freshly drawn-up cocktail menu at Kabaret, a chilled-out bar located in the more upmarket end of London’s Soho that’s perfect for those whose idea of a grand night out involves lounging on leather sofas and swinging gently to the laid-back jazz sounds of Chet Baker and Louis Armstrong. Baby.

Jeremy Popoff, the band’s ludicrously-bearded guitarist, surveys the array of brightly hued drinks in front of him and smiles cheesily.

“We used to be on an independent label and now we always get asked, ‘What’s the difference between being on an indie and being on RCA?’,” he grins. “This is the difference right here. If we were still on an independent label we’d be in a pub drinking three different types of ale, whereas today we’re in this fine establishment testing this glorious plethora of liqueurs. This is life.”

His bandmates grin and reach for their glasses.

Kabaret
Ingredients: vodka, pineapple juice, sugar syrup, dash of lemon juice.

Kevin:This is pretty fucking good shit. I’d definitely give it a whirl when the lights have gone down.
A.Jay: This is a tasty beverage: refreshing, light and really fruity. I’d give it a thumbs-up.
Allen: I think this is a warm summer day kinda drink- it’s not going to blow your mind straight off.
LIT Rating: 4 out of 5

Miami Dolphin
Ingredients: Southern Comfort, amaretto, Blue Curacao, pineapple juice, orange juice.

Kevin: Man, this is sick. The color is great and it tastes great too.
Jeremy: It would be a good after-dinner drink. The amaretto gives it a really smooth dessert feel. Girls would love this.
A.Jay: It’s definitely a chick drink, but it’s good. You’d drink this when your friends weren’t watching.

LIT Rating: 4 out of 5

Springbok
Ingredients: Kahlua, Baileys, creme de menthe.

Kevin: Wow, that baby’s got a lot of legs.
Allen: That’s fucking tasty, man. It’s like an after-dinner mint. With a cigarette that just might be a five.
Jeremy: I’ll be taking that recipe home. It’s lime mint chip ice cream in liquid form.
A.Jay: I think this is a very sexual drink. Serve this to a young lady and you’re going to have sex right there, I swear.
LIT Rating: 5 out of 5

Whiskey Sour
A.Jay: I’m not really a whiskey guy. Jack Daniel’s makes me sick just to smell it, but this isn’t bad. It’s the kinda cocktail you’d go for if you were only planning on having one drink.
Kevin: It’s a serious drink if you want to get really fucked up.
A.Jay: That’s Kevin’s game right there. We went to a party after the Grammys at the Hollywood Palladium, which is a really smart place- and at the end of the night I found Kevin on this couch laughing his head off, with his pants off.
Jeremy: And there are pictures on our tour bus of Kevin tonguing Max from Eve6 when they’re both drunk. They’re not pretty at all.
LIT Rating: 2 out of 5

Kamikaze
Ingredients: vodka, triple sec, lemon juice.

Kevin: That’s refreshing, kinda like a Margarita on the rocks.
Jeremy: In America we drink Kamikazes in shots, but I actually prefer it like this.
Allen: This is a pretty common drink at home, but I might go for two sips from this. It’s pretty nice.
A.Jay: We’d have this while everyone was drinking cheap beer at out keg parties. We used to pay our rent in our practice place by throwing keg parties, getting 300 people to chip in five dollars each. They were always fun, except maybe the time a punk-ass kid set on of our couches on fire.
LIT Rating: 3 out of 5

Sea Breeze
Ingredients: vodka, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice.

A.Jay: That drink would not last long in a nightclub setting.
Jeremy: In America, Sea Breeze is make with vodka, cranberry juice and pineapple juice which I actually prefer. This is a bit citrusy for me.
Kevin: Allen, man, you just spat something back into that.
Allen: No I didn’t.
Kevin: You did, man you were blowing your nose and shit into it.
LIT Rating: 4 out of 5

Heaven And Hell
Ingredients: champagne, Chambourd.

A.Jay: Man, this looks great. It’s another after-dinner type drink.
Jeremy: That would be very fine with a piece of chocolate cake, wouldn’t it, Al?
Allen: Oh wow, yeah. I could definitely drink this with a young lady. This drink is never making it over to Kevin.
Kevin: ....
LIT Rating: 4 out of 5

A Place In The Sun
Ingredients: gin, galliano, triple sec, orange juice, dash of pineapple juice.

Jeremy: We have to give this five just because of the name.
Kevin: It’s great, though, cool and summery.
A.Jay: This tastes amazing, like an ice cream bar. Man, I can tell I’ve had a lot to drink already.
LIT Rating: 5 out of 5

Long Island Ice Tea
Ingredients: vodka, gin, tequila, white rum, triple sec, lemon juice, coke.

Jeremy: Long Island Ice Teas are like shoving ten pounds of shit into a five-pound bag. There’s too much going on.
Allen: I think it’s alright. Hey, you guys ever drink so much you couldn’t get it up?
A.Jay: I don’t even need to be drinking for that.
LIT Rating: 2 out of 5

Tequila Sunrise
Ingredients: tequila, grenadine, orange juice.

A.Jay: Dude, that’s disgusting- it tastes like bile. I’ve got a really unpleasant taste in my mouth now. This reminds me of falling asleep at parties and waking up to find chicks puking over you.
Kevin: I like it, it’s kinda improper.
A.Jay: You do not, man. Take a bigger drink.
Allen: It tastes like shit.
Jeremy: What you should have given us is Dirty Martini. That’s what we’re calling the record label we’re starting up. A Dirty Martini is made with Stoli or Grey Goose vodka, a straight Martini, olive juice and three olives on a stick. The name is kinda if a contradiction because you’re fucking up a sophisticated drink with the olives. Kinda like we fuck up rock music with different influences.
LIT Rating: 0 out of 5

-Kerrang! Magazine, July 3rd 1999