When a writer sits to open themselves up to the world, they are alone in front of a void on the page. They try to channel through themselves the most intimate moments of their lives and the world around them while delving into the question of what it all means. Is it any wonder that many find themselves holding a fifth in the process? The two acts become intertwined and often become confused as to which came first. From Edgar Allen Poe to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tennessee Williams to Truman Capote, their humor is often marked by its dark edge, all the more biting because of its unflinching look to the truth. Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver were two best known for taking the quotidian and presenting it so accurately and so simply that it was profound. Enter Chris Orrick.

“The Liquor Store Hustle” is hard to take too serious with its kazoo and slide whistle tones, but like a motor city Balzac, Orrick describes the contemporary Detroit work-a-day, drink-all-night, order pizza, and watch tv lifestyle. It’s an ode, a lyric poem, an anthem to the short distance drunk drive for more booze that should never be taken. It’s internal dialogues, microwave pizza rolls, pawn stars, and private competitions against the five oh. Produced by Man@Work, Chris Orrick’s newest single doesn’t take defining a 30-year-old success too seriously but maybe it hits the nail on the head a little closer than you might imagine. Run the rum, rum the booze- this is the Liquor Store Hustle.