Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
It is the coldest day of the year so far, at least where I live. Hopefully writing about this warm little song, “Under the Tree,” by Portland’s Corvair will thaw out my fingers…
For those uninitiated with Corvair by their excellent single from last year, “Flannel Pajamas” (which also appeared on WIAIWYA’s 24), they are a “super duo” with more than twenty albums between them. Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers) and Heather Larimer (Eux Autres – who have an indie-classic Christmas EP) put out a full-length LP earlier this year, the self-titled Corvair, and with two holiday releases in a row, are nicely positioned to be one of our indiepop Christmas yearly heroes. Corvair mines one of my favorite Christmas veins in “Under the Tree,” nostalgia. Those songs where you are sitting in front of the fire, thinking back on Christmases past… that is a box I routinely check. The chorus presents this wonderfully, as the tempo picks up and they sing, “When we were young, reckless and dumb, / the gifts were all free. / Now I’m tired and I’m leaving it under the tree tonight.” Looking back on your youth and past relationships with an equal sense of love and regret – that’s kind of what I get from this song. “Dreaming away that Christmas Day could just fill me with something new / Without you this place is so cold.” This song is one of those beautiful, emotional songs that I continue to be drawn to, hook, line, and sinker.
Bottom Line: Corvair’s Christmas songs keep getting better and better.
Christmas Underground 