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.38 Special
A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night
(CMC International, 2001)
Jacksonville, Florida's third greatest band (I'm a Molly Hatchet fan) serve up a shit-kicking Yuletide. The key ingredient is the gusto that's kept Donnie Van Zant and cohorts stubbornly limping through fashion's briars since 1975. By the time Don Barnes is finished with "Jingle Bell Rock"'s spiky solo, it's clear that ye olde Southern rock can turn any hoary carol into music to smash barstools by. The originals leave no doubt as to which side Santa rooted for at Gettysburg. "Hallelujah! It's Christmas" is a straightforward boogie recalling when Van Zant first wrote Mr. Claus asking for a beard. The uplifting "It's Christmas and I Miss You" lets guitarist Don Barnes bare his ultra sensitive side, and while "That Old Rockin' Chair" is as maudlin as Xmas morn with no X-box, it boasts an excellent '80s AOR-style guitar break and imagines Donnie's mamma "finally home" in heaven. But let's move on, shall we? Like the holiday itself, too much .38 Special might be vaguely embarrassing. Guess that's why we drink eggnog.
C. Bottomley
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