Tag: Los Bitchos

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UPCOMING: Jangle Bells – A Rough Trade Shops Christmas Selection (12/08/2023)

Rough Trade Shops
Buy: Rough Trade (UK only so far)

Rough Trade Shops has a little Christmas gift lined up for their (so far) UK devotees… as they are releasing one of the strongest Christmas complications of the past few years. Compiling a number of top tracks from the recent past with a few exclusives, Rough Trade are flexing their taste muscles with this lineup. I’m most intrigued by the exclusives, obviously, and am paying particular attention to that Marika Hackman song, “Driving Under Stars,” as it sounds like a stripped-back version of one of my favorite holiday songs of the past ten years. The Peaness track, “Kiss Me Sweet Pea,” (edit – added below) could also be pretty amazing, as I really love this incredibly catchy band. There also appears to be a new Ellie Bleach track (edit – posted below!), which is encouraging… as I still may write about her previous song from a few years back (edit – she deleted it!) … Most certainly a worthy addition to your Christmas music collection, should you be the collector-type.

Tracklist (* denotes that I believe them to be exclusive to this release)

  1. Marika Hackman – Driving Under Stars (Piano)*
  2. Pale Waves – Last Christmas
  3. Allo Darlin’ – Will You Please Spend New Years With Me?
  4. Julia Jacklin – Baby Jesus Is Nobody’s Baby Now
  5. The School – Shouldn’t Be Alone For Christmas
  6. The Big Moon – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  7. Los Bitchos – Los Chrismos
  8. Linda Lindas – Groovy Xmas
  9. Black Midi – Jingle Bell Rock
  10. Chubby and the Gang – Violent Night (A Christmas Tale)
  11. Peaness – Kiss Me Sweet Pea*
  12. Bubble and Squeak – The Christmas Stick
  13. Ellie Bleach – Merry Christmas, Do You Ever Think Of Me?*
  14. Sinkane – Christmas Wrapping
    CD Only
  15. Dream Nails – Lonely Star (Christmas Song)
  16. Willie J Healey – Merry Christmas
  17. Girl Ray – I Wish I Were Giving You a Gift
  18. Stars – Christmas Anyway
  19. Alex Lahey – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)

Bottom Line: A good number of these tracks have been celebrated here before, so yeah, this looks good. Check it out, maybe buy the limited vinyl or the expanded CD… or cherrypick some songs below (where applicable) and give your money directly to the bands!

LISTEN

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UPCOMING: Los Bitchos – Los Chrismos EP (2022)

City Slang
Buy: Bandcamp (digital/flexi) | Official Store (flexi) | 7Digital FLAC/MP3 | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.de MP3 | Amazon.fr MP3

Howdy.

I suppose I’m back… gone much longer than I usually do. I often crash a day or two before Christmas, with a browser overloaded with open tabs that I stare at for a few months until I get the courage to finally sift through them. Well… a few months turned into more than a few months (does that make sense?). I suppose I’ll do my best this year, for what this might be worth, and try to hip you to some Christmas tunes I particularly like.

It does appear to be a bit early in the season, so I hope I can be forgiven for writing about something that “those in the know” already know about. Obviously, it is the new Los Chrismos EP by London’s premier surf/psych/rock quartet Los Bitchos. I don’t know what qualifies for an EP anymore, as with two songs, I might have called this a single! I’d like to dwell on that for a bit more, but even I am bored with me now. The lead track off the EP, “Los Chrismos” rides that seam between groovy and chill, exuding a great time from start to finish. Not that I’m completely scared off by an instrumental, but their giggling and chanting were engaging enough that I rather missed them when they weren’t there. I am quite curious what the b-side is going to sound like – but I’m sure at least this first track, “Los Chrismos,” is going to be on a lot of mixes this year.

For those (like me) who love a physical object, there is a flexi-disc of this single as added-bonus to their early-2022 debut, Let the Festivities Begin. So grab that “Los Chrismos Edition” of the vinyl LP and you’ll be the proud owner of a very limited and super-hip Christmas release that will likely make folks like me a bit jealous.

Bottom Line: Track one was fun, but it still leaves the question as to whether track two will bring on the apocalypse (or also be a fun Christmas song).

LISTEN