HOT SHÖT Completes Debut Album via Kenyon Records – New Release News

HOT SHÖT, Featuring DANGEROUS TOYS, Ex-MACHINE HEAD, DIRTY LOOKS Members, Completes Debut Album

September 20, 2026

HOT SHÖT, the band led by Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER, BROKEN TEETH, IGNITOR) on vocals, Paul Lidel (DIRTY LOOKS, DANGEROUS TOYS, SCREAM THERAPY) on guitar, Dave McClain (SA SLAYER, ex-MACHINE HEAD, SACRED REICH) on drums, Jack Pyers (DIRTY LOOKS) on bass and Dave Beeson (BROKEN TEETH) on guitar, has finished work on its self‑titled debut album. The project will be released via Kenyon Records.

In May 2025 the group issued a two‑track EP titled “We’ll Be Right Back,” containing “Digging For Diamonds” and “Catwalk.” The EP marked the first release from the revamped lineup, which reunited former DIRTY LOOKS members with McMaster and Beeson four years after a special performance of the band’s 1988 album “Cool From The Wire” at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania. That show was later compiled into the “Cool From The Speedway” CD/DVD package.

Formation and Early Recordings

McMaster described how the band came together in an interview for the Rock N’ Danger podcast (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Jack and Gene [Barnett], bass and drums from ['Cool From The Wire'], 'Turn Of The Screw' [1989] lineup, they call Paul in, like, 2019 or so and they go, 'We’re getting the band back together.' … I was a million percent [in]. And when he told those guys that, they were, like, 'Oh, killer. Would he do it?' … Anyway, so we rehearsed. Those guys came in, and we had a setlist, and we rehearsed, and it sounded fucking great. And I recorded the rehearsal, multi-track rehearsal. I recorded the rehearsal. I still have it. And then COVID hit. We had two shows in their stomping grounds… And then COVID hit, and those things had to cancel because of COVID. … Fast forward a year, year and a half or whatever, we were, like, 'Okay. Well, let’s get this back on the plate.' … We booked a couple of things, and the first gig we did was on a flatbed trailer in the middle of a speedway… And we created this stage and we found every Marshall stack in Pennsylvania we could load onto the flatbed trailer, and lights, we recorded it, audio and video. … Anyway, the record sold well. We self-released… we started writing new material. … Gene wasn’t interested in what we were trying to do… So I named it HOT SHÖT, and I brought in Dave McClain to play drums. And now we have a full‑length album that’s sitting here ready to go… on Kenyon Records.”

Continuing Career and Legacy

Jason McMaster, best known for his work with DANGEROUS TOYS and WATCHTOWER, filled in for Mark Tornillo and John Bush in ACCEPT and ARMORED SAINT respectively during the fall of 2022. He was inducted into the South Texas Music Walk Of Fame in June 2011, becoming the first metal artist honored by the hall in his hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. McMaster’s career stretches back to 1982 when he fronted progressive metal band WATCHTOWER, later gaining fame with southern sleaze rock act DANGEROUS TOYS. In recent years he has also led the Austin‑based hard rock project BROKEN TEETH, released several albums with his NWOBHM‑inspired band IGNITOR, and performed with various tribute groups. He was previously recognized in 1998 with induction into the Texas Music Hall Of Fame.