Category: Singles/Tracks

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The Technicolors “Santa’s Claws” (2017)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Have you ever asked yourself, “what if Pavement wrote a Christmas song?” Phoenix, Arizona’s The Technicolors have answered this question with their excellent “Santa’s Claws.” The phrasing, and even the lead singer’s voice, both left me drifting off to comparisons with Stephen Malkmus’ signature delivery. Pavement have long been a favorite of mine, so I’m totally down. The premise of the song has a young dude falling in love with Santa Claus’ daughter over AOL, and Santa is not happy – loving this premise. My only gripe would be the somewhat campy “voice of Claus” that pops up through the song – makes a pretty killer song just a tiny bit cute. Thankfully, they don’t cross all the way over the cuteness line, so I’m still on board. Hat tip to the truly wonderful Lie in the Sound for hipping us all to this track last year!

Bottom Line: The Technicolors come to the table with a wonderful homage to Pavement and an equally fantastic premise. Diggin it.

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Phosphorescent “Christmas Down Under” (2018)

Dead Oceans
Buy: Bandcamp

The latest “Christmas” tune to make the rounds on all the big boys (Stereogum/Under the Radar/Brooklyn Vegan/etc) is the second track to be released off the new Phosphorescent record, C’Est La Vie, due out Oct. 5 on Dead Oceans. It has been five years since the excellent Muchacho (with that brainworm “Song for Zula“), and this new record promises to be damn interesting. The first track, “New Birth in New England,” strikes as a stellar, upbeat Paul Simon track, while “Christmas Down Under” is an auto-tuned slow burn. Pedal steel and haunting lyrics forge the solemn atmosphere that permeates this song, yet not without revealing its own scuffed beauty.

Bottom Line: Phosphorescent’s end-run around what we expect from a “Christmas song” yields fascinating results.

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Saintseneca “The Wandering Star” (2017)

ANTI
Buy: Bandcamp

Back in 2016, Saintseneca released one of the best holiday EPs of recent note, with their holiday compilation The Mallwalker EP. This past holiday season, they continued what has been established as a near-yearly tradition of releasing a new holiday song, “The Wandering Star.” Unfortunately, by December 23rd, I am running on 10% power and the final warning window has popped up. Thus… I am only getting to this song now. “The Wandering Star” is immensely interesting and enjoyable, instantly reminding me of one of the more adventurous tracks you might find on a Sufjan Stevens’ holiday opus. There is more religious imagery in this track than I’m used to from Saintseneca, but they dress it up well enough to keep things interesting. (Avid readers know that this blog is here to write mainly about the secular songs of the holiday… read my about page if you are so inclined.) Saintsenica know their way around a song, and the intro’s finger picking and layered vocals set a thoughtful, yet powerful mood. However, when the pace picks up and the bass kicks in, this song truly blooms. This journey they set the listener on culminates with both a feeling of power and serenity – it is truly impressive. Once again, Saintsenica prove that they are in the top tier of underground, original Christmas music.

Bottom Line: Add this track onto the pile of wonderful Saintseneca holiday songs – and check out their new full-length LP, Pillar of Na, only released about a week ago!

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Pre Nup “War, On Christmas” (2018)

Pre Nup - Oh Well

Jigsaw/Debt Offensive Records
Buy: US-Jigsaw (CD) | Canada-Debt Offensive Records (CD)

“We’re doomed for sure. / Apocalypse creeps closer every year. / Keep this in mind, / we’re all fucked. / At least it’s Christmas time.”

THE DARKEST TIMELINE CONTINUES!

Here is Calgary’s finest with a FUCKING AMAZING indie pop jam that I cannot get out my head. Pre Nup come out swinging with fuzzed-out perfection, while name checking the illuminati, pretending the chemtrails are Santa’s sleigh, and highlighting a government plot to foment carnage. You know, the perfect appetizer to the oncoming meltdown Christmas season.

Bottom Line: Sharpen your knives, this Christmas feast is going to be bloody. Pre Nup have thrown down the Christmas gauntlet, and bloodied a few noses in the process. (Heads up, this song is a hidden track on the CD version of their debut LP, Oh Well.)

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Olympians “Leaving You at Christmas” (2014)

Self Released
Buy: Stream

I have been thinking a good bit about what my 2018 Christmas mix might be like. Last year, I gave myself a bit more room to use profanity and politics, saying that it would be an every-so-few-years loosening of standards. I’m a father of a young kid, a lot of my friends have young kids, and I like the idea of being able to listen to the mix around them. However, I am quite undecided as to the tone of this year’s mix. I suppose everything will be decided in November, as to whether this mix will follow the darkest timeline, or will show shreds of hope. That said, should I consider the darker timeline, this track from Norwich->London’s Olympians could fit nicely. Recorded a few years prior to release, they remembered they had this Christmas song and dropped it back in 2014 – completely overlooking the fact that they could have let someone (ahem) know about it! I love a good song about drinking and watching TV on Christmas – and this one has both in spades. The song’s narrator is sitting there, in his girlfriend/boyfriend’s folks house, having a terrible time, drinking to pass the time while he wishes to go home and watch TV. Stuck there for a week, he begins to ponder leaving… only to decide in a crescendo of Weezer (when they were good) wall-of-sound that indeed he will. Any readers of this blog know we love the dark stuff as much as the light, and this one is a solid, deep gray.

Bottom Line: I’d love to see if the Olympians could dig up another Christmas song, because this indie-rock downer is damn solid.

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Space Raft “Another Holiday is Here” (2017)

Space Raft "Another Holiday is Here"

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

Milwaukee’s Space Raft have crafted a wonderful (and perhaps the greatest) Christmas party/drinking song with 2017’s “Another Holiday is Here.” If you were crafting a Christmas party playlist, you would want to time this song to be about 2/3s into the party… not too early, and not too late, because you want maximum party when this jam comes on. The chorus lends itself to shouting, which every non-singer in the room can most certainly join in on: “So break out the wine / It’s Christmas time / Another glass of gin before we begin / Another holiday is here.” The song stinks of booze and fun, which are two qualities I most certainly look for in a Christmas tune.

Bottom Line: As if grown in a lab to liven up your Christmas party, “Another Holiday is Here” is a drunken-holiday-funtimes bullseye.

 

 

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The Undercuts “The Grunge Who Stole Christmas” (2018)

The Undercuts "The Grunge Who Stole Christmas" (2018)

Self-Released
Buy: Stream

Wellington, New Zealand’s The Undercuts have created a ramshackle gem of a weirdo Christmas song with “The Grunge Who Stole Christmas.” Electronic voices part to make room for a funky beat and vocals that remind me of the greatly-missed The Rapture, which I would consider a high compliment. While I would love to dissect the lyrics a bit more – they aren’t quite distinguishable… but that has never stopped me from liking a song! However, they do finish it up with a quite understandable and urgent “MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.” A deliciously distressed Christmas song for a distressingly disturbed time.

Bottom Line: Need to mess up your mix a bit? This rough ditty by The Undercuts might be the perfect fit.

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No Monster Club “Christmas In Dublin” (2017)

No Monster Club - Trahira - Zygote

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (gone)

This No Monster Club track popped up right as I was running out of gas, which is a warning for those folks releasing Christmas tracks… hit that sweet spot (Nov. 25-Dec. 5) when actual people (!) are visiting our blogs, and the bloggers aren’t completely exhausted. Enough inside baseball – lets talk trax. No Monster Club added a new Christmas track to their catalogue in 2017 with this cover of a Dustin the Turkey/Bagatelle song, “Christmas in Dublin.” Yes, you read that correctly, Dustin the Turkey. To the Google I go, once again. Dustin is a turkey puppet character from a RTE TV show, who as well inexplicably represented Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision contest. America has the Kardashians… we all have our own weird baggage I suppose. “Christmas in Dublin” is a cover of a parody song by Dustin, the original being “Summer in Dublin” by Bagatelle. One might expect a parody song to be funny, but this one is actually quite sweet, with only a few slightly bitter moments. I found it oddly lovely, perhaps you will too. Should I be embarrassed? Maybe a little, but I’m an underground Christmas music blogger; I’m already a little embarrassing on my own, so I’m cool with it.

Bottom Line: Lets all enjoy this parody song originated by a turkey puppet. And no, I’m not bullshitting you. Where I to bullshit you, it would have been a good idea to wait a week to post this.

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Seazoo “Happily Taking Advice From An Imaginary Sergeant Eddie Stone Late December” (2014)

Seazoo - Happily Taking Advice From An Imaginary Sergeant Eddie Stone Late December

Self Released
Buy: Free!

Welsh indie-popsters Seazoo released a great new single this past December, “Dig,” which led me to their Bandcamp page… and to their 2014 Christmas song! “Happily Taking Advice From An Imaginary Sergeant Eddie Stone Late December” has a truly lovely indiepop groove that goes wonderfully with their extremely long title. One would be compelled to do a bit of the googling when presented with such a title, and thus I’ve come to find that Sergeant Eddie Stone is a rather legendary Scots Guardsman who moved on to be a BBC presenter. Eddie is known for his unique toughness, having (during his SAS service) survived for days in the freezing cold wilderness wearing just a t-shirt and jeans, and more recently, eschewing proper outdoor gear when presenting on TV. Thus, knowing who Eddie Stone is helps you understand what the hell is happing in the song. Now, the song is particularly twisted – as the narrator takes advice from an imaginary Eddie Stone in preparation for his ambush of Santa Claus. Yes, you heard that right. “Eddie helped me plan it right and observe the house / Your expertise, a fire-side ambush after dark.” Brutal and wonderful, this song perfect for a night of plotting your enemy’s death while curled up with some eggnog.

Bottom Line: A fun little indiepop bloodbath!

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Street Joy “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?” (2017)

Street Joy

Self Released
Buy: Stream

“Two jews can still appreciate a good Christmas jingle.” LA’s Street Joy are indeed this – two jewish dudes who just released a fantastic cover of “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?.” In my brief research, this track doesn’t appear to be covered very often, and thus this may be your first experience hearing the song (unless you watch Narcos). The original was sung by a 12-year-old Augie Rios, backed by the Mark Jeffrey Orchestra, and actually sounds better than you’d imagine a child singing a novelty song might. In their version, Street Joy keep some basic melodies, but the dance beat, the synthesizers, and the fuzzy bass line completely transform this song; they have managed to perfectly modernize this novelty song from 1958, and make the song cooler than I ever thought it could be.

Bottom Line: Who knew “¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?” could sound this awesome?

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