Tag: indie rock

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moi Caprice – Advent (2020)

Glorious Records
Buy: Qobuz (FLAC/MP3) | Apple Music | Discogs (CD/Vinyl)

This is a record that’s been bouncing around my playlists for a long time. Many years ago, I got into moi Caprice, a Danish band that was geographically and sonically close enough to my Swedish pop obsession to get swept up in the search. Their song “The Art of Kissing Properly” became a playlist staple. I picked up a few CDs and very much consider myself a fan. How I managed to miss them releasing a Christmas EP in 2020 is beyond me. I’m only half joking when I say I consider this oversight a personal failure.

Yes, moi Caprice released a Christmas EP, Advent, in late December of 2020, and it is absolutely excellent. Four tracks, each of which could make a strong case for being the best song on the record. “Christmas, the Magic Is Back” has a wonderful rolling rhythm, peppered with evocative lines like, “’cause the magic is back / and I can do the whole thing from a child’s view.”

That song, along with the one that follows, “Year of the Rat,” are very much Christmas 2020 songs—COVID Christmas songs. However, neither suffers from being too firmly locked into that moment. Both retain a timeless quality, especially in the coda of “Year of the Rat,” where they repeat, “And our kids fall asleep to the sound of our heart.” It’s just ridiculously gorgeous. (It is also featured on my 2025 Christmas mix, A Bit of Christmas.)

The biggest song on the record, at least by streaming metrics, is the third track, “I’m Dreaming of a Christmas That Isn’t So Extremely White.” The concept is interesting, as it references familiar seasonal cultural touchstones like Home Alone and It’s a Wonderful Life, while hoping for new perspectives. A good song, but it somehow lacks the emotional pull of the other three tracks. We’re all different; this may be your favorite!

The final song, “Merry Christmas,” closes out the EP with a promise to make a Christmas song that “truly has the sound / of a Merry Christmas,” and it absolutely delivers. The melody is gorgeous as it floats along on lead singer Michael Møller’s wonderful voice. This is the bullseye—a song that could land on just about anyone’s Christmas mix, in any year they decide to dip into moi Caprice. It is undeniably delightful.

For those who love physical media, you can still hunt this record down on either 12″ vinyl or CD. And wouldn’t you know it—shipping from Germany isn’t terrible these days. I’m glad I can finally write about this now, as I’d been nervous about covering something I hadn’t yet picked up myself, fearing it might sell out before I could. But now I’ve got a 12″ on the way, thanks to the generosity of you all, after coveting it for nearly a year. Truly, thank you all.

Bottom Line: This entire release can be mined for mixworthy songs. It really is pretty damn spectacular.

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Daphne’s Demise “Just Like Christmas” (2025)

Perpetual Doom
Buy: Bandcamp

Lord knows this song has been covered to death. But there are some songs that I don’t mind hearing cover after cover of… and Low’s “Just Like Christmas” is most certainly in that camp. Heck, Christmas A Gogo has a yearly post gathering the latest covers. So, another cover… what can you find in yet another cover of this song? Perpetual Doom is a label that I love, often releasing singer/songwriters who have a tendency for alt.country, but perhaps a bit more attitude than would suit the mainstream. I admit, I’m predisposed to be excited to hear something from this label, and thus I’m here chatting with you about Daphne’s Demise, and their new cover of “Just Like Christmas.” Daphne’s Demise (aka Zoë S-Bouffard) takes this song, nearly strips it of all adornment, and lets you bask in the simple beauty that is this classic song. This is my ultimate Christmas song… and when someone can find themselves in it… I’m here for it.

Bottom Line: Simple and beautiful.

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Lonesome Doves – Lonesome Doves Christmas Album (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Vermont’s Lonesome Doves have released a 4-song EP of original Christmas songs, the appropriately titled Lonesome Doves Christmas Album, all of which share a slow tempo, as well as the beautiful vocals of Scarlett… who truly does not miss a note. It is not often that an indie rock band is notable for the vocalist’s ability to sing… but Lonesome Doves are certainly an exception. You may find yourself attracted to the first track, “Peacegiving,” as you contemplate our current state of affairs. Perhaps you’ll connect with the vegan-leaning “Psyciatric Help 5 Cents,” which not only sings about not killing things that breathe, but also about dancing around like a cartoon, which we very much do in my house. These songs are the kind of songs I might want to listen to at night, drinking a spiked eggnog and looking at the fire. It’s not going to get you all amped up, it’s the kind of Christmas music that is going to leave you sitting… thinking…

Bottom Line: These aren’t pop hits, but they might touch something a bit deeper if you let them.

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The Bret Tobias Set “For Christ’s Sake” (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music

Hey! Is The Bret Tobias Set lining up to be a yearly Philadelphia Christmas tradition? Can I manifest this? We’ll see… (I missed 2024’s song… but go check it out!)

I wrote about The Bret Tobias Set’s excellent 2023 cover of Everything But the Girls’ “25th December” earlier this year, with what might be one of my shortest reviews of recent memory. I don’t know why I get sheepish about that kind of stuff – I just don’t want folks to think because I haven’t gone on and on about their record that I don’t really love it. Some days I just have a few minutes to spare, a headache, or existential ennui… you know… shit happens! Do all those words above count towards the review? I hope so!

The Bret Tobias Set is back with a reworking of a 2004 song that Bret wrote with his previous band, The Bigger Lovers, for their last record, This Affair Never Happened… And Here Are Eleven Songs About It. Bret calls the Lovers’ version “blue-eyed soul,” and I suppose I hear that – but it just sounds like a rock ballad to me. When I hear the term blue-eyed soul, I think about half the bands on Colemine Records, not The Bigger Lovers. But I am NO expert, despite this silly site.

Bret’s new version, which he calls a “country pop duet,” has Bret sharing vocals with Krista Umile, and man, these voices sound lovely together. The song lightens with the addition of Krista as well as the increased tempo, and as a result, the length shortens enough to leave you wanting more. I do hear the country twang, but I don’t know if I’d call this “country pop.” I would call it an “alt.country power pop ballad.” Gotta complicate things!

Bottom Line: This song’s arrangement feels like it has found its forever home.

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

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music

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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ANDEMIC – The Sick Christmas EP (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

When you get a hot tip from Jon Solomon, of the 25-Hour Holiday Radio Show fame, you press play. What was in store for me was extremely appropriate for my past week of sickness, a Christmas EP by Philly native (but LA-based) Andy Williams titled The Sick Christmas EP.

Woof. Hitting close to home.

Let me give you a bit more background on this Andy Williams fellow. First, it is not THAT Andy Williams – he died in 2012! This Andy was the guitarist and vocalist of the Philadelphia indie rock band Lefty’s Deceiver, and recently he’s been recording from his attic in LA under the name ANDEMIC. He’s released a few Christmas singles, which I have missed, over the past few years, and has gathered them along with five new ones on his new The Sick Christmas EP.

The Sick Christmas EP is full of originals, ranging from the driving indie rock of “Everyone is Always Sick Every Single Christmas” to the stellar Get Up Kids-esque “Massapequa Park,” but look out for the almost unrecognizable glory of battling guitars and synths that is “Jingle Bells.” This record is something else.

Thanks Jon, and howdy Andy. Nice to meet you.

Bottom Line: An indie rock highlight of the season.

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Besphrenz “for christmas” (2025)

red background, green writing: the text "for christmas" makes the shape of a christmas tree

Late Work Records
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MP3

Philly’s Besphrenz have knocked out one of the most upbeat and fun “bring my baby back for Christmas” songs of recent memory with the stellar “for christmas.” This is the perfect gift of indie rock Christmas fun. It has me thinking of those stellar Crocodiles Christmas songs of the past – which is high praise in my book. This is their first Christmas song – go buy it so they make another.

Bottom Line: Stone-cold mixworthy

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Aux Caroling – December/Headphones (2025)

An impressionist painting of the sky with a moon in it.

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Aux Caroling, the recording project of North Carolina’s Scott Deaver, is always singing about something he’s not singing about. From the amazing “Bulls vs. Lakers, Christmas 2011,” which framed complex familial relationships and the uncertainty of fate within the guise of talking about a basketball game on TV, to his most recent, and equally gorgeous, December/Headphones.

The first track, the A-side for those who wish to imagine this is a beautiful 7-inch record you are about to drop a needle to, was initially titled “A Long December to Remember Sales Event.” Just seeing that title made me kinda snort and smile. Now off he goes, singing about striking a luxury automotive deal. Then he slips into the chorus, which will subtly change through the song.

“Everything happens at once / that’s how you know it happened / nothing really feels that long / till your memories…”

Just gorgeous. But he dips back into those lines that are about “buying a car:”

“And it’s been a rough year / I think it’s safe to say / have not had one minute / to choose between nebula and cloudburst gray.”

There I go again with a snort, of sorts.

Scott excels in a kind of cheeky depth. He makes jokes that make it feel safe to contemplate your inner feelings of helplessness or inadequacy, or explore your family dynamic, or deal with the unknown.

The B-side is “Headphones,” a track that Scott initially intended to premiere on Jon Solomon’s 2024 25-Hour Holiday Marathon, and to never be played again. He meant for it to be heard in that one moment in time, and that was all. Thankfully, he’s reconsidered. This is simply a beautiful, touching love song. I don’t sense any subtext here; there is just a profound grateful love that the luckiest of us can relate to, in one way or another. “Found out I love you a lot / don’t think it will ever stop / don’t think it will ever stop / don’t think it will ever stop…………”

There are some bands that I like to celebrate here whose unique voice is unmistakable, and I count Aux Caroling among these. He has my ear, from now until he starts inevitably doing those stream-of-consciousness Mark Kozelek-type records. Then, I’m out.

(I couldn’t get too mushy there… Scott would have thrown in a line to take the edge off, and that was my feeble attempt to do the same.)

Bottom Line: Aux Caroling is essential Christmas listening.

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Kristian Noel Pedersen – Bullshit & Gift Wrapping (2025)

A photo of a christmas tree, and a man sitting in a chair looking at the light up tree.

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I recently listened to a podcast featuring indie-Christmas legend Kristian Noel Pedersen (KNP), the always wonderful 12 Songs of Christmas hosted by Alex Rawls. It was a great conversation and a peek behind the curtain of our most prolific Christmas-creative. KNP has released sixteen albums of original Christmas music, and after his most recent trio of beautiful, hilarious, and genuinely touching records centered on the fictional, aging pop star Saul McCartney, I was under the impression he was planning to strip things back a bit. Sometimes plans change, though, because we’ve got a mini-album of six new songs (plus some voicemail interstitials), and if the first two tracks are a taste of what’s coming… consider me hungry.

The record opens with “Bullshit & Gift Wrapping,” which might be the best title for a Christmas song I’ve heard in ages. The track is packed with bitterness, profanity, jangling guitars, and—strangely, but in the best possible way—a Gin Blossoms vibe? I don’t know what I ate for dinner, but that’s the only comparison my brain wants to make right now. And I low-key love the Gin Blossoms, so I’m here for it.

KNP has also previewed the second track, “Christmas on Your Own,” where the guitars get fuzzier but the attitude—and profanity—stick around. He paints these small scenes across a few Christmases, following someone leaving a bad relationship and starting over. The song feels frayed at the edges, from the loose feel in the instrumentation to the lo-fi (well, lower-fi) vocals, and that roughness fits the emotional journey perfectly.

While we only have two tracks so far, any longtime reader will immediately clock track six: “Winter,” featuring vocals by Winterval, another prolific and supremely talented songwriter I’ve featured here many times. I absolutely cannot wait to hear that one.

The rest of the record drops on Friday, December 5th, along with probably every other major indie release of the season. Why? Bandcamp Friday—when Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut and the artists get every dollar (minus credit-card fees, I imagine). So add this one to your cart now… and wait until Friday to check out!

Bottom Line: Two songs in, and I’m singing the same songs of praise for the latest Kristian Noel Petersen joint.

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Home Counties “Better Last Year (Home Counties for Christmas)” (2025)

a group of people sitting at what appears to be a table at a pub, wearing santa hats and throwing their arms around each others' shoulders.

Submarine Cat Records
Buy: Juno Download (WAV/FLAC/AIFF/MP3) | Apple Music | Amazon.uk MP3

Well. Of course, I’m not the first to post about this, but at the very least I didn’t learn about this song from NME, and found it the old-fashioned way – I follow Home Counties on Soundcloud! But I’ll at the very least benefit from the background on the song provided. Turns out “Better Last Year (Home Counties for Christmas)” debuted at their gig at Scala last night, and is slowly becoming available on digital platforms today. Hopefully it’ll find its way to Bandcamp… we’ll see.

Enough about how and where to find the song – what is this song about?? Well, I again refer to that darn NME article, as they obviously got a ton of background, and I’m not going to be better about explaining this song than the band will. Quote below:

“Inspired by the dual voices and anti-Christmas sentiments of ‘Fairytale’, the song is split between two narratives voiced by Will [Harrison] and Lois [Kelly],” the band said. “Lois sings about bumping into people you went to school with who have since done terrible things (a common theme from our school). Will sings specifically about Christmas Eve itself, with a feeling that with every year it gets a bit shitter, and everyone a bit less joyous.”

“Together, they shape a story of growing older and how you feel it at this time of year,” they added. “It’s also a plea for everyone to try and regain some of their lost ‘Christmas spirit’, in a slightly problematic boozy call to arms.”

Well, I barely actually wrote anything about a song I actually quite like. I wonder what I would have said had I not found that NME article that kinda ruined my momentum…

Bottom Line: This is certainly going to make some mixes… maybe even mine!

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