Hangdogs – Something Left To Sell: Live Crap 1995-2001
On their first live album, the Hangdogs offer up many of their best tunes alongside a smattering of well-chosen covers from the likes of Steve Earle (“Sometimes She Forgets”) and Cheri Knight (“If Wishes Were Horses”). As the subtitle suggests, this disc features live takes from as far back as 1995, recorded at New York City’s Mercury Lounge. Other cuts are culled from appearances in places ranging from Italy to Spindale, North Carolina.
The band’s own “Rock ‘n’ Roll World” kick-starts the album and is followed by “We Gon’ Rock” and a rendition of Robbie Fulks’ hilarious “She Took A Lot Of Pills (and Died)”. Other highlights include the bar band staple “Money Honey” and another Hangdogs original, “Chew The Cud”, which showcases the band’s more than slightly off-kilter brand of humor. Just to show there’s more to the Hangdogs than their twisted tendencies, they also salute George Jones with a version of “One Woman Man”, tossing in a few excerpts of “White Lightnin'” along the way.
Short of having all your friends and fellow clubgoers spilling beer on you, blowing smoke in your face and hollering the wrong lyrics in your ear, Something Left To Sell is the next-best thing to being at a Hangdogs show.