Bandleader John Lurie really hit his stride with this live set, recorded in Tokyo with perhaps the strongest incarnation of the Lounge Lizards. The passionate, furious vibe is set from the outset on the title track, featuring the slashing guitar of Marc Ribot and the funky bass of Erik Sanko. But Lurie's more sentimental side comes through his sax on the doleful "It Could Have Been Very, Very Beautiful." In all, the disc represents what is great about the Lounge Lizards: a serious band that doesn't take itself too seriously. -- Allmusic

Initially, John Lurie's fake jazz was so conceptual it needed the chordless wonder of Arto Lindsay to knock the stuffing out of it every bar or two, but after trying to play the real thing he's settled for composing a full-fledged counterfeit. Blaringly dissonant and tunefully noir at the same time, Lurie's ensemble writing is Mancini boheme rather than Thelonious manqué--sometimes almost danceable, sometimes theme music for a movie too slick to star him, and always something else besides. Only brother Evan's "Punch and Judy Tango" tempts you to take the solos literally. A- -- Robert Christgau