Songfacts®:

• "Love Is A Dog From Hell" has a Southern, country-influenced flair noticeable in its twangy guitars and driving rhythm, while still retaining The Amazons' signature bold, anthemic rock sound. It was sparked during a visit to Skylight Books in Los Angeles, where Matt Thomson, the band's vocalist, stumbled across Dolly Parton's take on Bill Monroe's "Mule Skinner Blues." Something about that old-school energy clicked, and suddenly the track had its sonic compass.
• Thematically, the song wrestles with temptation, self-sabotage, and the thrilling rush that comes just before everything careens off the cliff. Its title, borrowed from Charles Bukowski's 1977 poetry collection, shows the raw, unvarnished honesty at its heart.
• Plenty of musicians have dipped into Charles Bukowski's raw, boozy, and bleakly funny world for inspiration. Here are some notable songs directly inspired by his works or referencing him:
  
  1991 "Mellowship Slinky In B Major" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
  Anthony Kiedis name-checks Bukowski among his list of literary and cultural heroes.
  
  1991 "Green Corn" by NOFX
  Contains references to Barfly, the film written by Bukowski, based on his life.
  
  1993 "Dirty Day" by U2
  Bono references Bukowski's poetry collection The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills in the refrain "the days run away like horses over the hill."
  
  2004 "Bukowski" by Modest Mouse
  A direct reflection on Bukowski, with Isaac Brock questioning how a grumpy, misanthropic drunk seemed to have a better connection with God than he ever did.
  
  2006 "Nirvana" by Tom Waits
  "Nirvana" is a spoken-word piece where Tom Waits reads and performs Bukowski's poem of the same name. Waits has often cited Bukowski's stories of drifters and deadbeats as inspiration for his own characters.
• The song is the 10th track on The Amazons' fourth album, 21st Century Fiction. It continues the album's exploration of modern struggle, masculinity, and emotional intensity.
  
  "The record comes from the frustration of being in that place where my 20s were ending and being really cognizant of that," Thomson said of the record. "Self-flagellation; always wondering what's around the corner, always scolding myself for not matching up to some unattainable ideals of what it means to be a successful band or even just a man."