Who says sequels can't be better than the original. Pretty much two years to the day since their All Over The Road – Volume One DVD hit the streets, America's favorite alcohol soaked canines American Dog return with their second volume of high octane, drunken debauchery.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past decade the Columbus Ohio power trio is made up of Michael Hannon (bass, vocals), Steve "Piggy" Theado (guitars, vocals) and Keith Pickens (drums). With each new album (there are five full length releases to date) the band's following has been steadily on the rise and they've been making quite an impression over in Europe in recent years as well. So it's only fitting that the first half of this two hour disc should find the boy's high tailing their asses over to France to give the French a hefty dose of their good old fashioned below the belt rock 'n roll. Captured in May of this year in front of a jam packed crowd in a sweaty club on the outskirts of Paris the band tears through an absolutely ferocious hour long set of tried and true, early doggie chestnuts such as "Barely Half Alive", "Shitkicker", "D-N-F" (that would be Drinkin' n' Fuckin') and "Drank Too Much" along with a healthy serving of material off of their latest studio album Mean.
If you're looking for showmanship, special effects and all that other fancy shit you've come to the wrong band because American Dog pride themselves on keeping their razor sharp attack relatively simple and unpolished, and boy is it effective. They're just going to give it to you hard and fast, over and over again until you've been beaten to a pulp. Hannon, with his bass slung low around his knees snarls his way through one booze fueled anthem after another. Together with the propulsive drumming from Pickens the rhythm section sounds like an out of control locomotive barreling down the tracks, while Theado keeps the meaty riffs and fiery solos coming at you at fast and furious for the full sixty minutes. The second half features a return appearance from Hannon's alter ego Sir Loin O' Beef along with his latest character Dog Serling. In addition to their never ending arsenal of riffs, if there's one other thing American Dog always has a deep supply of, it's tongue in cheek humor. Take a look at the behind the scenes footage of the band in the studio recording Mean,"Piggy" and Hannon reminiscing at the bar in Theado's basement or the videos for "Little Short" and "Another Lost Weekend" and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.
All Over The Road – Volume Two is louder and meaner than Volume One, so if you really want a good idea of what these guys are all about, pick up this DVD, crack open a few cold ones and crank up both of these babies back to back.
Note: If you act fast and have an extra couple bucks to spare you can get the limited edition version of All Over The Road which comes with an 18x24 autographed poster and your very own American Dog beer koozie, which I have to say is going to come in real handy when I break out that Six-Pack: Songs About Drinkin' and Fuckin' monogrammed bottle opener. Four beer steins!
Track Listing
Live At L'Empreinte Savigny Le Temple, France
1) Shitkicker
2) Barely Half Alive
3) Boozehound
4) Can't Throw Stones
5) Cat Has Got You By The Tongue
6) Rock 'n Roll Dog
7) Drivin' Down The Sidewalk
8) Another Day In Paradise
9) Human Garbage Can
10) D-N-F
11) Beaten, Broken etc..
12) Drank Too Much
13) Sometimes You Eat The Pussy
The Videos
14) Dog Serling
15) Just One More (Video)
16) Little Short (Video)
17) Inside The Learning Annex with Sir Loin O' Beef
18) Another Lost Weekend (Video)
19) The Making Of "Mean"
20) Hear Me Howlin' (Live Video)
21) Mutant Show 2006
22) No Pity (Video)
23) Dog's Life (Video)
24) Lucky 13 (Live) - Bonus