It’s official – I’m excited. Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Communist Daughter has announced a follow-up to 2015’s Sing Sad Christmas EP, which featured (IMHO) the definitive version of The Boy Least Likely To’s “Blue Spruce Needles.” This band can take a song, filter it through their fingers, and make something truly special. They just teased us with the first song off their upcoming November release, Sing Sad Christmas Vol. 2, and it’s just what you’d think. Communist Daughter does not shy away from the darker sides of Christmas – so Aimee Mann’s “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas” is right smack in their wheelhouse. I love it when a band looks beyond the same 10 songs to cover – I am very on board and can’t wait for November.
Bottom Line: A dark and delicious tease for what promises to be a highlight of the season.
As I furiously try to listen to all that I can, grabbing large compilations for further listening, wishlisting all the singles that I need to come back to… every so often I hit play and gotta pop over here for a quick, dirty, and low-quality review of a great song. You know… feed those content gods.
Stereogum hipped me to this new track from London’s World News, “Xmas 101,” which if you reallllly want to get technical, was released in 2021. It is quite a fun, upbeat song that I’ve found benefits from multiple listens. World News has a flavor of jangle/college radio sound that I would RIYL if you’ve been a fan of Voxtrot, REM, or as The Line of Best Fit aptly tagged, Big Country. So if that is your jam, jam away! I’ll be jamming with you!
Philadelphia’s Wake Up and Smell the Sun (aka John Murray) was trying to empty the holiday tank last year. With his stellar 2-track single The Pedestrian Chronicles, Part 2 leading the way, quickly followed by his EPIC 25-track Advent Calendar, it sure seemed like John had reached his holiday destination. It does make me think of my old Honda Passport though… I could drive that baby on E for 50 miles – I never once ran out of gas, despite trying preetttty hard. Looks like John had a few more miles to drive this year, as he just dropped a 2-song single, The Pedestrian Chronicles, Part 6! This single begins with “Philadelphia Flurries,” a song with a classic WUaStS feel, having a driving beat propel John’s filtered vocals through some of the most interesting lyrics you’ll hear this season – you really have to check the Bandcamp page and hit that “lyrics” link and read along like you were a kid again. Case #1, the first stanza in the first verse hit me immediately and made me shake my head and smile as only John can:
Plain Jane’s Main Line luscious lips, they only sing the Christmas hits, Lure you on the naughty list, and kiss you like a hypnotist. The City Line swingers wine and dine her. Happiness is hit or miss The lightweights end up tipsy, nibbling jingles from her fingertips
This whole song is like that, full of great lyrical twists and turns (and great Philadelphia references!), with a killer chorus to boot. The kind of song you might just take for granted when coming from WUaStS, but fight that urge and take it all in.
The second track, “Whence I Christmas” is the kind of song that makes you think… this Christmas song feels different. This Christmas song feels like a struggle, someone looking inwards and not quite knowing how to feel about themselves or the world around them. I think that this may be the track John was thinking of when he wrote me this passage about his approach to Christmas music: “I write in the thoughts of Christmas people thinking Christmas things or thinking thoughts that might be thought about in the season of Christmas. You know, Ebenezer Scrooge ends up a pretty delightful chap, despite spending most of his adult life as a soul crushing, money grubbing, prick. But, the story is boring without the whole story.” I kept more of that quote than I needed, because I just loved John calling Ebenezer a prick, but you see there how John mines the interior life of his characters for Christmas songs – and we all know that our insides aren’t always pretty. This song isn’t a story of someone who’s figured it all out… you’re in the middle of the journey here… and aren’t we all?
Finally, this isn’t all that John/Wake Up and Smell the Sun has planned for us this year… Friday, December 20th will bring us his first-ever Christmas special, live from Miner Street Recordings with Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey, who have recorded John for the past few seasons. This is the same studio that has hosted many folks we all know and love, like Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, the War on Drugs, Rachel Angel, Big Thief, Dead Milkmen, Strand of Oaks, and Waxahatchee to name a few. John wanted to capture the space at Miner Street, which he says has a “certain magic that cannot be duplicated.” I’m ready for the magic. Here’s a teaser with a live version of “Holly Jolly Tearjerker” from the upcoming Christmas at Miner Street, available Friday on Wake Up and Smell the Sun’s Youtube channel.
Bottom Line: Wake Up and Smell the Sun can’t shake the spirit, and we benefit once more.
Today is the day. The fourth and final (…you never know for suuuuurrre) volume of this magnum opus of alternative Christmas music has dropped with a whopping 65 songs. Amongst these 65 songs, you’ll find many names that I’ve championed on an occasion or two (Whyte Horses, Dark Horses – ha! – The Photocopies, Skiing, Aux Caroling, and many more) – but unless you’ve been reading this silly blog since 2012, you likely haven’t come across many of these songs. If you have been close-reading this blog, you might even take special notice that Applennium’s “Is this Christmas” is on the tracklist. Not only is this a great track for that imaginary shoegaze/dreampop Christmas mix someone out there is making, but this is the first time one could get an actual FLAC of this song. I honestly had forgotten how great that song was.
This record is a fantastic afternoon listen, one that may very well get you in the spirit enough to finally put up your tree, finish your mix, or dig a bit deeper into that band whose song has just made you hit the back button to listen again. For a quick £7/$8.50, you’re that much closer to indie-Christmas nirvana. That, and ALL proceeds go to Crisis at Christmas, a UK charity supporting people experiencing homelessness. Sounds like an easy call folks.
Bottom Line: If this is the first you’ve heard of this series – there are 4 of them, totaling 208 songs. They are required listening if you are at all interested in this alternative Christmas music. Now go! Listen!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 🙂
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.”
