Tag: Australia

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High Tropics “All I Need This Christmas” (2023) and “Lonely Christmas” (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I have a tough time writing about songs you can’t actually go out and buy. A big part of why this site exists is not only to spread the best Christmas music I can find, but also to point you toward the best place to pay money for the hard work of these talented musicians. Art is work, and work deserves compensation. It really is that simple.

Because of that, I’ve been meaning to write about these two fantastic songs by Australia’s High Tropics for a while, but there’s never really been a place for you to purchase them—until today. I shot the band a note last night and, voilà: Bandcamp. So here we go.

I discovered High Tropics via the excellent Von Pip Musical Express podcast back in 2023 and was immediately smitten. Before diving into the songs, though, I have to address the elephant in the room: yes, these are the best Christmas songs the Strokes could ever wish to write. The similarity is undeniable, but that only serves to highlight the Strokes’ complete lack of original Christmas songs—and High Tropics’ absolute slam dunk in delivering two original seasonal gems.

2023’s “All I Need This Christmas” made my mix last year, thanks to its relaxed, synthy stroll through the well-worn “all I need for Christmas is you” territory. The lyrics are simple, essentially repeating the same verse twice, but even within that limited space, the song finds a way to feel fresh and new. Take the opening stanza:

Everybody’s talking ’bout a brand new year
I’m still playing catch-up with the last one, baby
I don’t wanna tell you how it ought to be
I’m just tryna make it to tomorrow lately

There’s something so laid-back and assured about this song—a calm, effortless cool that’s hard to deny. As the song puts it near the end, “I know I could win you over,” and it absolutely has.

“Lonely Christmas” first appeared on SoundCloud back in 2021, along with a demo version, and it’s only a matter of time before one of those makes its way onto one of my mixes. The lo-fi vocals, the sticky chorus, and—once again—that feeling of effortless cool the Strokes helped reintroduce to rock music in 2001 all come together beautifully here. High Tropics have kept that flame alive and turned it into something genuinely special.

The two songs feel like siblings, sharing a similar structure of repeated verses and a catchy chorus. Somehow, High Tropics manage to make yet another classic Christmas trope feel anything but stale.

Bottom Line: I can’t think of an A/AA single that would be quite as good as these two.

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Grace Cummings (featuring Jim James ) “Times Like These” (2025)

A woman laying on a pillow, with the shot of her face, eyes closed, wearing a "Merry Christmas" headband.

ATO
Buy: Bandcamp

I’m busy sitting here, waiting to eat. I mean, real busy, just sitting here. I don’t know how I am going to get through all this sitting. So, I’m taking a quick moment, because that is all I can spare from this sitting here, to make mention of this new single by Melbourne’s Grace Cummings, “Times Like These.” The song sure sounds sad, yet if Grace is meant to be believed, it is one meant to bring comfort… but boy, this song sounds sad. Grace told Rolling Stone Australia:

Times Like These’ is for somebody that needs some comfort and some love. The holidays boast joy and happiness and celebration and togetherness but it’s one of the most lonely times I can think of. My friendship with Jim James has helped me to see some beautiful things in the world, and to be grateful for what I have.

Grace’s voice sounds pretty damn incredible, and the harmony that My Morning Jacket’s Jim James brings to the song feels like a damn perfect match. As for the comfort this song is meant to bring… it will probably be a bit of a Rorschach test for how you’re really doing at the time you listen to it.

Bottom Line: Is this a dirge or a comfy blanket? We’ll see…

LISTEN

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UPCOMING: Polish Club – Christmas Stinks! (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Vinyl | Apple Music? | 7Digital (FLAC/MP3)?

Sydney, Australia’s Polish Club put out one of the best — and hardest to get — Christmas 7-inch singles I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing about when they dropped the excellent Xmas Single back in 2017. That thing is amazing! I still don’t have one… Hell, they’ve even got a New Year’s release worth checking out — “Countdown” (which I should really write about) — which was so fantastic that it closed out my 2020 Christmas mix, Christmas Storytelling.

So… when they teased the cover art on their Facebook page the other day, I pretty much freaked out. I found the site, saw the vinyl, tried to buy one, got rejected by geolocation — and here I stand. Not quite sure what to do. But they did respond to my comments… in due time, I’m assured.

Christmas Stinks! is being debuted on Facebook, with a new cover posted each day for 20 days (they’re on day two as of this post), leading up to two shows on December 20 and 21. There was even a write-up in Rolling Stone Australia yesterday — not sure why they didn’t debut it here! This site is massive!

I did love one quote from Novak that really sums up what they’re doing:

“I used to be somewhat of an edge-lord holiday hater, but I’ve grown to really appreciate how the holiday period affords us a sleep-in, a big belly, and some genuine quality time with people you perhaps should spend more time with,” Novak admits. “I’ve also learned that if you’re sick of Christmas carols and holiday tunes, the best way to get over that is to record your own rock’n’roll versions and embrace the Christmas chaos.”

I’m game, folks. I’ll be listening — hoping that one of these covers makes it onto my next mix — and that I can figure out a way for myself (and everyone else outside of Australia) to exchange money for goods and services.

Bottom Line: I’m listening…

LISTEN

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Winten “Holidays” (2023)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Wow. Rip you heart out. Winten’s “Holidays” is a deeply emotional song about the emptiness one feels after a breakup. It is simple and direct, with these short little moments that, while you haven’t specifically lived them before… you have. The emotion conveyed by (Bridgette) Winten’s voice is perfection, both surgical and fragile in equal measure. She gets in there… it is spooky.

The holiday connection comes in the last verse:

And do you remember two days before Christmas?
Houses were glowing like they knew things
But you don’t live there anymore
I’ll always be here and you’ll be somewhere.

Nobody gets out of this life without a few wounds along the way. This song captures this so, so well.

Bottom Line: This one is gonna get a few folks where it hurts.

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Pascal Babare “Santa’s Seasonal Showdowns” (2013)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I must assume that everyone who visits this blog listens to my mix every year, notebook in hand, downloading their thoughts and feelings about every single track so you can forever remember that moment of listening to such a wonderful Christmas mix. That is my basic expectation of you all… I trust you haven’t let me down. That being said, I’m sure this song is old news to you all, as Pascal Babare’s “Santa’s Seasonal Showdowns” was a highlight from last year’s Christmas mix, I’m an Igloo (track 11, probably on page 2 of your notes). One of the many Aussie’s whose amazing Christmas songs I’ve been digging up, this one most certainly stands out. “Santa’s Seasonal Showdowns” tells the tale of a sadistic Santa orchestrating a Running Man-style life-or-death competition – kidnapping, assault, weaponry, the works. Color this story with delicate vocals and beautiful guitar melodies, and you’ve got a delightful, unexpected macabre holiday treat.

Bottom Line: Bloody fantastic holiday fare from down under.

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Skegss “December” (2022)

Loma Vista
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon.uk MP3

Sneaky. Releasing this song as a b-side in February of 2022, Australian punks Skegss are many things to me at the moment. Their song, “December,” is an extremely recent find; the first post of the 2024 holiday season; perhaps the first song I can say will be on my 20th annual Christmas mix. The song is so good, and with 7K+ streams on Soundcloud, I just assumed that it had been picked up by Christmas A Gogo or Von Pip, but alas… it looks to have snuck by them as well. The whole plan with this site was to have more stuff like this handed to me on a silver platter… but 12 years now and I’m beginning to think I was mistaken.

How about we talk a little about the song? Are you a fan of the Sleepwalkers Christmas EP? (Well, you should be). Have you been dreaming of a chill Christmas song that might have been sung by Julian Casablancas of the Strokes? Put that idea in your head and press play. Then stroll around thinking about how great it will sound on your Christmas mix. Maybe get yourself a treat and sit on a bench. Yeah. Deep breaths. Christmas comes for us all.

Bottom Line: A killer debut track for the 2024 season dug up from the early months of 2022. Welcome to the new year, you’re going to like this one.

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Ned’s Holiday Dustbin /// Busted Head Racket & Billiam – Genetic Southern Hemisphere Christmas (2023)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

hey, this is ned. i’ve hosted a weekly radio show called no love for ned for twenty-some years and also made annual christmas mixes that i sent out between 2000-2010.

holiday music remains my jam and somehow (jim/sixtywatt/christmas underground) and i ended up building adult lives in the same rural town twelve years ago. since then we’ve been goading each other into ordering obscure indie music (both christmas and otherwise) from all over the world to split the shipping costs. i’m envious of his ability to still churn out a yearly christmas mix despite family obligations and i’m hoping my columns will help get me back to a yearly christmas mix. (i assume jim is hoping my columns buy him a little more free time).

i’m gearing up for a holiday radio show in a couple weeks, in the meantime here’s my 2022 holiday show on mixcloud to get into the no love for ned holiday vibes.

TW: suicide in the song and video.

Billiam & Busted Head Racket are both part of a thriving garage punk scene in Australia that reminds me of the Jay Reatard/Goner/Douchemaster scene from the mid aughts. They’ve collaborated on three “blink and you’ll miss them” holiday songs posted up on bandcamp as a PWYW download. No jingle bells on this holiday release, just throbbing melodies topped by blown-out (and often indecipherable) lyrics.

“I’m Existential” races by in seventy-five seconds that depicts a spiraling Santa Claus. Busted Head Racket’s lyrics show us that Santa’s pretty fed up with the job, confessing both “he’s sick / of carting all your shit” and “I’m sick of cookies and milk / I really need some help”. In true holiday fashion, they’ve crafted a video featuring Claymation versions of Santa, Billiam and Busted Head Racket.

It’s certainly not one for the family holiday party but definitely one for my holiday radio show this year- after I edit out that ‘shit’!

LISTEN

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Middle Kids “Driving Home for Christmas” (2023)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.de MP3 | Amazon.fr MP3

When Sydney’s Middle Kids dropped Lost Friends back in 2018, that was one of my top-5 records of the year. The goodwill generated within me based on that record alone… well… it is pretty substantial. Thus, when I saw they had dropped a Christmas single, I was pretty excited. Would I like it to be an original song? Yes. However, as this song is less ubiquitous in the States, this version may be the first time you hear “Driving Home for Christmas.” If so, then you’re in for a treat. Middle Kids add nice touches to the song, such as the textures that (if I’m not mistaken) the slide guitar adds throughout. It is a lovely production, from the vocal to the warm bass lines, and perhaps most especially… the shortened run time. I aaaaallllways appreciate a brief Christmas song that doesn’t drag, and they chop off more than a minute from Chris Rea’s original. Middle Kids have surely scored a solid cover, now let’s see what they can do with their own material!

Bottom Line: An extremely solid cover of a UK-Christmas classic. Might be an Australian classic too… because you know… colonialism. Did you know that the Chris Rea song came out the same year as Australia gained full independence? 1986!

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Mallee Songs “Christmas ’93” (2015)

Beko
Buy: Bandcamp

I saw a Thread yesterday (YES, I am on Threads… ugh… damn you Elmo) that had me pondering that eternal question… name 10 records to know me better. One of those records was the Silver Jews’ American Water. That record blew me away and helped mold my taste in everything from music to modern art, movies, and literature. Elvis Costello may have cracked the window, but the Silver Jews’ David Berman blew up the house. Thus, when I hear a band that makes me think of David… I’m probably going to start feeling all warm and fuzzy toward them. Melbourne’s Mallee Songs‘ track, “Christmas ’93” off of 2015’s Natural Times most certainly feels inspired by the Silver Jews, thus I’m on board. I know that the song will certainly be filed on the sad side of the Christmas shelf, as the main joy of the narrator’s holiday is trying out every bed in the house. If you read this blog, you know that rarely scares me off. There is no beating around the bush, as the tone is set immediately: “Oh it’s Christmas time / I just want to recoil into myself.” In addition to the obvious alt.country via Pavement guitar lines, it was the lyrics that ultimately led me to the David Berman comparison – “I only get up / to pick at the meat / when nobody is there / My family walks on the beach / yet I don’t care.” This is one of those mundane moments that nobody would put in a song… but here it is. I love those moments, no matter how melancholy they might be. Not all sad songs have to make you sad, you know?

Bottom Line: There is somehow a warmth within this sad song and a beauty in its mundanity. You may feel the same?

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Ella Ion “Christmas” (2021)

Terrazzo Recordings
Buy: Bandcamp

Adelaide, Australia’s Ella Ion delighted us last year with her contributions to the wonderful Bjéar Christmas records, and I very much meant to make a big scene regarding her excellent 2021 single, “Christmas.” However, I got distracted, as I often do. The song deserved to be discovered back in 2021, as it taps expertly into the isolation of Covid lockdown. Ella provides an excellent, descriptive paragraph on her Bandcamp explaining “Christmas”:

“Christmas” renders a common release that overrides the sense of nothingness brought on by isolation over the past two years. The track explores the emotional tension surrounding the time of year when we are forced to spend time with those who raised us while looking back on our growth (or lack thereof) from the year behind us. The song taps into realisations about our childish tendencies and how we might put expectations on those we love before we fulfil the expectations of ourselves.

The subject matter can feel a weeeee bit brutal (as I ponder the line, “If your friend hadn’t died, I would’ve probably made you feel like you did”), but I’ve been known to groove on a dirge or two. Ella’s voice and LOS LEO & Bjéar’s production are so good that you might just find yourself swaying and singing along… which might garner you a hug or two from your more empathetic friends for sure. Here’s hoping that Ella and Bjéar cook up something new for us again, as our warm-weather friends are just killing it down there.

Bottom Line: This is a gorgeous, brutally honest song for a season that often rewards the superficial. So… how do you take your holiday music? Real, or with lots of sugar?

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