Denis Leary
Merry F#%$in’ Christmas
Comedy Central
Though the title may lead you to think this is a seasonal album – indeed, the album is sandwiched between a studio and live version of the title track – the twenty minutes on here are filled with a variety of inexplicable material. You can pretty much guess what the combination of Denis Leary and a song titled “Merry F#%$in’ Christmas” will yield, but most of the other stuff on here is on the stranger side of funny.
There’s “Fat Guy On The Plane,” a fairly cliché bit of audience warmup. “Deaf Mute Cocktail Party” is a couple of minutes of sound effects from what sounds like my kind of shindig. “WWWW” is a bit of hilariously bland AAA radio patter, while “Coffin Rap” is a set of coughs, wheezes and death rattles sampled into somewhat musical form. I think I’ll quit smoking this New Years’.
Strangest of all is “Insane Cowboy (In Africa),” a Burroughs-esque piece which gets a writing credit shared by Greg Dulli. Greg Dulli from the Afghan Whigs?
Anyway, though we do get a few instances of Leary’s trademark abrasiveness (the story of his five-year-old singing Leary’s hit “Asshole” in Catholic school is classic), this is a bit of a stretch for a comedy album. Chances are you’ll get it to piss someone off with the title song, and scratch your head the rest of year with the balance.
Comedy Central Records: http://www.comedycentral.com
