Author: xmasunderground

Such and such.
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Autocamper “I’m in a Caravan (and it’s Christmas)” (2024)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (Mini-CD)

I don’t have much time (this is going to be a theme today). Indiepop funtimes with Manchester’s Autocamper. This song cannot (and I believe… will not) be streamed anywhere… so I can’t tell you whether it is good or not… but I’m guessing it is going to be good, because I bought one. NOW, how can you buy & listen to “I’m in a Caravan (and it’s Christmas)?” Well, you have to buy one blind and own a tray or top-loading CD player – don’t try to put them in a vacuum-loading one!!

Edit: Well shoot… I somehow read their listing initially as being released on Minidisc… not a Mini CD. Sorry about that! Sorry for the trouble I’ve caused for the band 😦

Bottom Line: Who knows?!?! I bet it is good!

LISTEN – Here’s what the band sounds like with a non-seasonal song

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Thanks Light “Dirtbag Christmas” (2024)

Perpetual Doom
Buy: Bandcamp | Flexi!!!!

So everything came out today. I’m writing this in the 15 minutes I have in the morning… after having worked until about 9:45 last night… Wait. Did I say I wasn’t going to complain in a post a day or two ago? I LIED!

With a title like “Dirtbag Christmas,” I knew I had to press play, and I was happy to see I wasn’t being seduced by yet another cheeky title – it was indeed great. This song by Thanks Light has a great “Ballad of John and Yoko” bassline, and a Dougie Poole feel that makes total sense, as Dougie and Thanks Light’s Zane Ruttenberg recorded and produced this track together. The song is about Zane’s entire family coming down with Covid, and him having to drive back home to spend Christmas in his bathrobe, drinking whiskey and playing scratch-off lottery tickets. I dunno… that kind of “nothing to do” sounds pretty damn appealing right now.

Bottom Line: Love the groove, love the sentiment, love the cover art = Love.

LISTEN

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ROE “Christmas Once Again” (2024)

Self Released
Buy: Juno (WAV/FLAC/MP3) | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3

ROE is an alt-pop weirdo from Northern Ireland and her wonderful first step into the world of alt-xmas has me feeling some great 90s vibes. I’m struggling to find the touchpoint I want – it nearly comes to me, then I lose it. Perhaps one of my five readers (I love you all!) will be able to pin it down… anyway, let’s focus. I love the vocal melody – it moves all over, with these changes of pace that are just damn pleasing. It is explicitly a Christmas song but doesn’t fall into any of those trite, predictable Christmas buckets that I hear so, so very often. Give it a listen, won’t you?

Bottom Line: From one weirdo (me) to another (you, the reader), you should listen to this weirdo.

LISTEN

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Birdcloud “Cool Christmas” (2011/2024)

Self Released / yk records
Buy: Bandcamp

I have a whole bunch of solid excuses as to why I’m not posting enough. Everybody loves complaining! Andddddddd…. Nah.

I’ve had this song by NSFW Nashville duo Birdcloud for a long while now, but it popped back into my field of view with their release of a “Honeybacked Ham Hologram” 7-inch record coming out Dec. 20. The song is all energy and attitude. It is abrasive. It is silly. The chorus is oddly sweet. This is the kind of song that won’t be a broad crowd-pleaser but might be some weirdo’s favorite track. I’m quite curious what the b-side – their version of “Silent Night” (which is not available for preview) will sound like…

Bottom Line: This thing is both a grower and a shower.

LISTEN

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Bleu Reine presente La Compil’ de No​ë​l #4 (2024)

Bleu Reine
Buy: Bandcamp

Sometimes I get concerned that this site just ends up writing about the same folks over and over again. I suppose there are two ways to look at this – 1. I am lazy and 2. These folks know their shit and do it well. Bleu Reine are #2, and definitely know their shit as they have compiled yet another superb Christmas compilation. (I hereby grant permission for folks to clean up my language if they wish to use a quote as a “blurb.”) The fourth edition is yet again a mix of French bands covering both holiday and non-holiday songs… but you know which category I am most interested in. So… let’s dive into these absolutely killer Christmas songs.

The first, and perhaps the most surprising highlight of a truly stellar record is Summer Camp Girlfriend covering the Pogues “Fairytale of New York.” Who needs another cover of this song… apparently me! This dream pop treatment may just have enough sustain on the guitar pedals to fit on my imaginary shoegaze Christmas mix. Their musical choices feel fresh and exciting… and they don’t use the F word! This thing sounds like no other version I have heard to date – give them a follow wherever you hang (hopefully not Twitter – F* ELON).

Skip down to the middle of the record, and you find yourself with an excellent cover of “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch,” by Norma. There isn’t much to the simple orchestration, but Norma does a LOT with a little. She doesn’t throw a bunch of musical color to fill up the space but chooses to add a color or two along the way to the strolling guitar lines that propel the song. Norma does four verses of the original six – and hey – I do appreciate a radio edit! Quicker the better when it comes to Christmas songs… this one was a pleasant surprise.

The fuzzy wall of sound that is Rennes, France’s Eeyora’s “Snowman (The Sleepwalk)” may or may not be a cover – I truly have no idea. However, what I encountered will terrify many folks on first listen… a sonic approach that would have been like seeing space aliens to the early rock n’ roll pioneers. But dammit if it hasn’t grown on me. The seesaw between abrasion and sweetness works wonderfully. I’m way out of my comfort zone, but I’m here for it.

Finally, let’s take a look at the Bleu Reine and their inspired cover of the Love, Actually classic, “Christmas is All Around.” The song is meant to be silly in the movie, and yes, the song is silly in reality. However, Bleu Reine has managed to make it feel damn sexy dressed up in some electro/dream-pop clothes. This thing is fucking cool! How did they do that?!

Hey! I missed some of the Christmas songs! THAT is because they were in French! Sometimes I have the balls to talk about songs in another language, and sometimes I don’t. Today is a don’t! Why do I use exclamation marks with reckless abandon when I review THIS specific compilation? I DON’T KNOW!!!!

Bottom Line: Some stone-cold mixworthy songs on this comp – and it raises money for La Croix Rouge Française / French Red Cross!

LISTEN

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Daði Freyr – How Daði Stole Christmas (2024)

Samlist
Buy: 7Digital (FLAC/MP3) | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3

I miss a lot of releases. The world is large, I am small, and my capacity is limited. However, at the very least, I would think I would see releases from artists I follow… but the algorithm lords do not deem it so! I believe I follow Icelandic alternative pop superstar (in my book for sure!) Daði Freyr on every possible platform, yet somehow I did not see his new Christmas EP, How Daði Stole Christmas until Alex Rawls (of the great Twelve Songs of Christmas podcast) told me about it! The EP compiles most of his previous Christmas singles (it is missing the Icelandic language version of “Every Moment is Christmas with You“) and adds four new Christmas covers, all of which are made better by Daði’s wonderful voice. Of particular interest to my Christmas blogging friends is a cover of Wham!’s “Last Christmas.” This version rounds out what may be a banner year for “Last Christmas” covers, as Daði’s comes alive during the second verse (“A crowded room / friends with tired eyes…”), his voice bouncing through the verse in a mesmerizing dance that only Daði can do.

My second favorite (new) song off the EP may be the Icelandic language “Komdu Um Jólin,” which is listed as a Raf and Umberto Tozzi/Gunnar Ólason cover. I loved the electropop production Daði throws on the track. It makes you want to dance! Click that link above and check out the original… the song is wholly transformed, more than any other track on the record.

I initially didn’t find (or look for) the EP collection on Spotify/Tidal/Soundcloud/etc, only watching the fantastic performance videos that Daði had put up on Youtube and believing they were just that… simply videos he was sharing for fun at Christmas. The slow, trickling release of the videos had me on the edge of my seat, as I embraced each new video and waited for the perfect time to write about this neverending series of holiday covers. Well, every good thing has to end, and my dream of an infinite source of Daði Freyr Christmas songs has blown away… but damn there are some winners here. Enjoy.

Bottom Line: Daði Freyr is such a unique voice… I could listen to him sing the phone book… which he’d probably put a sick beat under!

LISTEN

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Joe Pernice “A Song for You” (1986/2024)

Ashmont Records
Buy: Stream on Substack

Joe Pernice of Pernice Brothers/Scud Mountain Boys/The New Mendicants (to name a few) just published a rather sweet story about this song on his substack. Originally written and recorded in 1986 after finishing his first semester at college, Joe’s cassette copy of the song was lost and largely forgotten. Thankfully his cousin who had helped him demo the song had kept a copy for himself. When Joe’s cousin passed away, a box of cassettes brought it back from the abyss. The song was a gift to his family that he played for them that Christmas in 1986. The version that we hear now is not the original cassette demo, but Joe’s re-recording he just made, to not risk a brittle old cassette in an off-brand Walkman any more than he had to. Pretty cool that it made it back to him…

Bottom Line: It is a simple song, written from the heart as a present to his family… how much more Christmas-spirit do you need than that?

LISTEN

Head on over to Ashmont Records’ Substack. The song is embedded over there.

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Slow Salvation “The Ghost of Last Christmas” (2024)

Velvet Blue Music
Buy: Bandcamp

I sure hope someone is out there compiling an incredible dream pop/shoegaze Christmas record… because here is another! New Jersey’s Slow Salvation are bringing their effects pedals to Christmas with the wonderful “The Ghost of Last Christmas.” This genre is often mainly a vibe, with the walls of buzzing guitars and airy vocals creating an atmosphere for the lyrics to live in, though Slow Salvation has even brought some lovely, simple lyrics to the table: The gifts I bring / Are filled with memories / That we sing / Take Me Home.” Just a gorgeous song.

Bottom Line: Shoegaze Christmas is gonna be a thing, and this song is a highlight.

LISTEN

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Kestrels “Last Christmas” (2024)

Darla
Buy: Darla (MP3/FLAC) | Bandcamp

I am thoroughly sick of most popular Christmas songs. Somehow… “Last Christmas” is not in that category. It is likely my love of George Michael that keeps me from going full Grinch. However, most versions bore me to death – the same old same old. Thankfully, Halifax’s Kestrels have found a fuzzy, droning bassline that has given me permission to enjoy this song once again.

Bottom Line: Kestrels deliver a quick and easy thumbs up from a grumbly Christmas blogger.

LISTEN

EDIT: Looks like this isn’t the first run with “Last Christmas!” Here is Kestrels member Chad Peck from 8 years ago 🙂

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Cheyenne Marrs “Santa’s Lament” (2023)

Red Curtain Records
Buy: Darla (MP3/FLAC)

So, Thanksgiving has me traveling this year, and thus, I’m a bit more distracted than I normally am at this crucial moment in the Christmas music release schedule. I’ll do my best to drop a post here and there when I can… but hey, some years are going to be more fruitful than others I suppose.

Memphis’ Cheyenne Marrs dropped a wonderful Christmas original last year that I missed. This is indeed a trend. I’m looking forward to all my posts next year about the songs I missed this year! “Santa’s Lament” is not the Father Guido Sarducci song from 1995 – so while the content is a bit humorous, it is not Dr. Demento-humorous. I loved the lyrics, – Santa busting his ass for everyone, straining his back, not getting any cookies – thought it is the music that hooked me. The percussion that begins the song propels the song along until “the work is done” and the horns begin to creep in for the big ending. It is a fun one. I do hope you enjoy it.

Bottom Line: Give thanks to folks who make the music you love, and check out Cheyenne’s 2023 debut full-length “Everybody Wants to Go Home.”

LISTEN