O.G. Hangdogs Reunite

It would be foolish to try and claim that The Hangdogs are anything but a bunch of cynical, drunken sonsabitches. They just are, is all. But damn if they don't play some fine country music for being a bunch of fancy-talkin' city boys.

It's been awhile since they've played any of that music, though. See, for you youngsters out there, between some murky afternoon in the mid-'90s and 2002 or 3, The Hangdogs established themselves as NYC's best, perhaps only, hard-rockin' country band. That may not be saying much, but hell, it's something, isn't it? Over five albums and too many live shows to count, they mashed traditional c&w themes like heartbreak, beer, and bad jobs together with radical political commentary and an old punk attitude, then injected that into everything from slow waltz weepers to kick-ass honky-tonk. Take, for example, the chorus to "Hey, Janeane," off 1998's East of Yesterday:

Hey, Janeane, ain't it funny how we hate the same things, and how America forsook both you and me.

Hey, Janeane, let's us get drunk, get bitter and get mean, fall in love and make somebody else doubt what they believe.

That sums it all up pretty well.

The songwriting was sharp, the playing sharper, and it was putting the two together on a stage in a bar that really won them a following. Their live shows were long, drunken, sweaty jolts of electricity, replete with cruel stage banter and pie fights. Most bands you see nowadays amount to little more than background noise. You clap politely and go home thinking, "Yes, that was very pleasant." The Hangdogs made you notice them, and always made sure you left as drunk and worn out as they were, but happier.

There were a few lineup changes along the way, then in 2003, lead singer/songwriter Banger (aka Matthew Grimm) picked up and moved to Iowa or Ohio or Idaho or some such place, where he formed his own revolutionary communist rock band-Matthew Grimm & The Red Smear. The remaining Hangdogs, well, they carried on sporadically as they could, and recently drummer Kevin Hangdog took a stab at a solo career (he's a very earnest fellow, as all drummers are). For the most part, though, fans were only left with the CDs and some blurry half-memories.

This Thursday and Friday at Rodeo Bar, the original line-up-Banger, Kevin, J.C. and Automatic Slim-will get together and give it another go, since Banger's new band is in town to play a few gigs and do some leafleting. I'm told that as the Hangdogs show rolls on into the wee hours, all the other guys who've been part of the lineup over the years-Kevin Karg, Rob Hangdog and more-will be up on stage, too.

The Red Smear is opening, which means that Banger is both the opener and the headliner, which means that not only will the show be sweatier than most, there's a very good chance there may be some onstage fisticuffs as well, with audience wagering encouraged. It'll really be something.