HARDWARES

Michael Hannon in a Santa suit with “fat kids on my knee;” if you appreciated TWISTED SISTER’s A Twisted Christmas, then Merry Christmas Asshole!!! is right up your alley. However there’s only one festive melody on this disc as the reindeer – oops, remainder – consists of 13 songs recorded in front of “a few friends” at Sonic Lounge in Grove City, Ohio. The time is right for a new live set from road warriors AMERICAN DOG as it’s been seven years since Foamin’ At The Mouth, and 2008’s Hard On The Road seems but a distant memory. This time around, vocalist / bassist Hannon, guitarist Steve Theado, and drummer Michael “Hazard” Harris focus predominantly on their newer material with half of the set being pulled from this year’s studio effort, Poison Smile. Truth be told, ‘Devil Dog’, ‘Old Dog, New Tricks’; in fact all of the Poison Smile songs sound better live as they’ve got more grit, bite, and swagger than the original versions. ‘Cat Has Got You By The Tongue’ (from Mean) is a real treat as an extra three minutes are added to the song in the form of breakdowns and extended solos; ‘Beaten, Broken, Etc.’ (from Hard) receives similar treatment with a lengthened bluesy intro. There is one throwback to the early days in the form of ‘TV Disease’, but the hankering for ‘Drank Too Much’ and ‘Shitkicker’ still lingers, which novelty song ‘Just Like Charlie Sheen’ does little to satisfy. Closing out the affair is a radio friendly edit of ‘Merry Christmas A**’ – designed specifically for Grandma’s iPod.