rock – Christmas Underground

October 16, 2023December 6, 2023

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)

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

September 8, 2023October 16, 2023

UPCOMING: Lenny Kaye, Cedar Sparks – Holiday Split 7″ (11/24/2023)

La Societe Expeditio
Buy: Rough Trade

This upcoming release looks quite interesting and has the pedigree to be fantastic. Lenny Kaye, guitarist, founding member of the Patti Smith Group, and curator of the touchstone Nuggets compilation series, contributes a new song, “Santa’s Knee,” as well as scribbles his name on the cover of this Rough Trade-exclusive 7″ release. The B-side is the only known quantity from this slab of wax, as Lenny Shares the flip with Cedar Sparks, comprised of Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) and Lou Rogai (Lewis and Clarke), as they share their 2018 folk-Christmas track, “Gathering Song.” Inspired by seasonal depression and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Gathering Song” is infused with beautiful, melancholy violin melodies and some wonderful sing-along lyrics. I can only vouch for 50% of this release, but so far so good.

EDIT: This is also an RSD Black Friday release. So… there are a few more than the 150 Rough Trade has. Whew!

Bottom Line: This looks like a very solid Christmas 7″ for the fan and the collector – Rough Trade is the exclusive retailer of 150 green vinyl signed copies. Grab them fast!

LISTEN

EDIT: Well… it appears that I may have hipped Cedar Sparks to the fact that their song was still available (for free) on Bandcamp. (And now it is gone)

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022

The Walking Who “Halloween on Christmas” (2022)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

This song by Australia/Prague’s The Walking Who is equal parts epic and cryptic. Also… who the fuck cares what this song is about because “Halloween on Christmas” is fucking awesome. The song began its life in Australia back in 2019, but was only recently finished in November at a studio in Prague, with a strict palette of eastern European guitars, mics, and synths born between 1960-1985. Eastern bloc or bust! Pair this with those Toad Venom tracks and you’ve got yourself a pretty badass mix in the works…

Bottom Line: Let’s listen to psychedelic Christmas from the caves of Prague… what a great sentence to write, and what a fantastic song to jam to.

LISTEN

December 15, 2022

Dick Move “Eyes for Christmas” (2022)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Under the Radar, though not the Under the Radar you and I likely know and love, but the New Zealand online music mag has hipped me to this Christmas song that rips up the male gaze. Auckland, New Zealand’s lo-fi punks Dick Move bless my blog with perhaps the most aggressive song I’ve ever featured… as I am often on the chiller side of the musical dial. I’ll defer to their description of the song:

“This song is about a cracker of a one liner that echoes through small town Aotearoa. Someone staring, dare we say ogling at you? Hit ‘em with the almighty “you get eyes for Christmas mate?” And watch them shrivel. Simple, powerful, crack up stuff — and hopefully gone are the dayz of the male gaze.” – Lucy Suttor, Dick Move

Most certainly one of the more unique Christmas songs I’ve come across, and quite worth your time.

Bottom Line: Tear it up, Dick Move. We’re here for it.

LISTEN

November 30, 2022

Toad Venom – The Ingen vidare jul (Christmas is cancelled) EP (2021)

Welfare Sounds & Records
Buy: Bandcamp

If I had a nickel for every time I said, “You name your band Toad Venom, and I’m going to check you out.” Well, a bunch of psych rock musicians from Vikingstad, Sweden finally took me up on this well-known offer, and have also made some absolutely excellent psych Christmas music! 2021’s The Ingen vidare jul (Christmas is cancelled) EP is two tracks of badass psych, as the leadoff track “God Jul” blasts off, a soaring Swedish Christmas anthem (to which I have no clue what is being said). The flip, “Merry (Christmas) and me,” is in English, and very much suits their style as described on Bandcamp: “A band, experimenting the void between spaghetti western and psychedelic rock.” Those twangy western guitars that introduce the track – so terribly cool. The song builds and builds, at times triggering me to think a bit about Spiritualized for some reason. There are so many cool movements to this song, yet it still comes in at an economical 4:00. Perhaps one of the most badass Christmas tunes I’ve come across in a good while.

Bottom Line: Two extremely good tracks from my new favorite band and best friends (pending).

LISTEN

November 25, 2022November 25, 2022

Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2022)

A Benefit for Crisis
Buy: Bandcamp

I often think about what it would be like to be just now getting into this hobby of underground Christmas music mix-making. When I got in the game (18 years ago!), there wasn’t quite the wealth of indie rock/pop/alt.country/etc Christmas releases to hunt down. Bandcamp, the venue which I primarily exploit to find cool new songs, wasn’t founded until 2007, and it wasn’t until 2010 that I could have even embedded a track on a site like Christmas Underground. It is both exhilarating and terrifying to think about dipping my toes in for the first time in 2022… there is just so much to listen to – years and years of great songs to get through, let alone all the new releases that come out every year. Well, lucky for my imaginary self, as well as that very real person taking their first stab at making a cool Christmas mix, fellow weirdo Christmas music fan Kevin McGrath has created the perfect introduction to this niche of holiday music with the massive, expansive collection of 108 songs, Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. This is like one of those The Greatest ________ Album in the World collections I used to bump into in the import sections of the 2000s – packing an absolute ton of the tracks you need to hear to fully get what has been going on. The sheer effort that it took to clear 108 songs is astounding, let alone the challenges of contacting bands that are no longer together, and there are some wonderful ones represented here, to which I’m delighted their musical legacy will persist. Readers of this site will find some familiar faces and names, such as Sweet Tempest, St. Lenox, Charlie’s Hand Movements, The Ornaments, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, and many, many more.

Just know you are bound to discover a new classic or two that you’ve never bumped into before. Christmas Underground is a one-person shop, and I can’t and won’t be able to know every single cool indie Christmas song out there… as I’m currently sitting here listening to Volume 1, bobbing my head to a song I’ve never heard – and I love it. All this great music also benefits a great cause, Crisis, a UK charity that helps the homeless. So, while the suggested price for each massive collection is a mere £7/$8.50, just know that you don’t necessarily have to give only $8.50. Maybe make yourself a sandwich each day this week for lunch and give a bit more? This is the season of giving, and in a world where billionaires aren’t going to save us, we need to look out for each other.

Bottom Line: These two releases could fashion 3-4 years of indie Christmas mixes for your friends and family. It is an absolutely essential purchase for new and old collectors alike.

LISTEN

November 8, 2022

Bad Bad Hats “Sally Sweet Tooth” (2021)

Don Giovanni
Buy: Bandcamp

I am finally getting through all the stuff I meant to listen to last year. If you are someone who feels as though a shitload of browser tabs is a personal failing, let me introduce you to the largest failure I know… Me. Thankfully, every so often you find something that makes saving that session worth it. Minneapolis’ Bad Bad Hats has been producing a song a month on their Patreon since at least October of 2020, and what do you know… December 2020’s theme was Christmas! Let’s let them tell you a bit more:

“I was listening to all the holiday classics to get inspired and I was struck by how many great characters there are in the Christmas canon: Rudolph, Frosty, a run-over Grandma. So I wanted to add a new character to the mix. She’s a little sweet, she’s a little sassy. She’s Sally Sweet Tooth. And you’d be wise to give her your cookies.”

The song was deemed worthy to bust out of the Patreon $5 tier jail to the wider world last December, in all its early-2000s alternative/power-pop goodness. So rejoice, and remember not to be stingy with your cookies… she’ll get ya.

Bottom Line: An extremely delicious jam to spread all over your Christmas mix.

LISTEN

October 25, 2022October 25, 2022

Tino Drima “I Wish That it Was Christmas” (2019)

Going through my drafts is always fun. Here’s a pearl that led off my Christmas mix last year, yet somehow never made an official entry on the site. Get ready for some extremely modest exposure, Tino Drima!

California’s Tino Drima somehow snuck this gold nugget by us all… and I’m honestly amazed that I’m the first website to highlight this fantastic song. The groove is infectious, and Tino’s relaxed vocals give the song a swagger not often found in Christmas music. For those who listened to 2021’s “This is Just a Modern Xmas Song” (and there may be about 300 of you out there in the billions that live on earth), I hope you Shazamed that first song, hunted it down, and have found a home for this song on your mix this year.

Bottom Line: This song deserves to be an indie rock Christmas classic.

LISTEN

October 14, 2022

UPCOMING: Los Bitchos – Los Chrismos EP (2022)

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

December 18, 2021December 18, 2021

Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada XIII (2021)

The Line of Best Fit
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

The Line of Best Fit is the home of one of the most reliable, most wonderful Christmas compilations in existance, Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada, which continues this tradition with its thirteenth wonderful collection of Canadian soundscapes, indiepop, folk, indie rock and the like – you know, genres and artists who aren’t churning out records with themselves laughing in sweaters on the cover and a whole bunch of boring covers on the record. This is music for the rest of us (which is what this site is ALL about), and I’m going to do my best to highlight just a few of my favorites from this year. However, as with ANY compilation, please listen to the whole thing – as what I single out may very well not be what you would have! I also get intimidated by reviewing large comps, and cap myself at 4-5 feature songs, no matter the quality of the whole thing… I am one person, with a kid, dinner to make, and a secret, international cock-fighting ring to run. So here we go!

June Thrasher‘s expansive “Sleep Through the Night” opens the record, immediately bending the rules of what a Christmas/holiday compilation should be. The song rings out with these tones and drones that remind me of blowing wind, waving plants in the wind. It certainly feels chilly, and while it doesn’t have jingle bells (ha!), I’ll allow it – because it is quite beautiful.

JF & Lail (JF Robitaille and Lail Arad) provide the lovely “First Christmas,” an incredibly sweet folk song made by a couple splitting time between Montreal and London, while traveling with their newborn during a pandemic. It is funny, touching, and extremely personal, yet completely relatable to anybody who has ever tried to attempt anything challenging with a young child. Planes, museums, quiet dinners, nothing is the same, but you’re in it… and you’re hoping… hoping…

The This‘ “Winter Tires” is short and upbeat, which checks two big boxes for me as I’m putting together a mix. Throw in that the song has a semi-polished, Mountain Goats feel, and I’m pretty much telling you to take my money. Lucky for me, I can do that, as this song also features on the Kingfisher Bluez Christmas Single 2021. SO, grab this and 3 other tracks on beautiful vinyl!

“Xmas Oranges” is the heaviest track on here, as well as a standout from Marlaena Moore‘s excellent 2020 release, Pay Attention, Be Amazed. Marlaena mines some deep emotional content, bathed in somewhat ominous (yet beautiful) cello and horns. While I was most attracted to the incredible instrumentation, Marlaena’s voice is undeniable, as she sings some really amazing lines: “Christmas oranges. / I don’t care for sticky citrus. / You can’t even tell the difference / between love and fatal interest.” Damn.

Kristian Noel Pedersen is the beating heart of Canadian indie Christmas music. Not only does he feature on many of the wonderful Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada compilations, but he also released Songs About Christmas (AKKCXIII), his thirteenth Christmas release. His songs keep getting better and better, and this track might be my favorite yet. “Deck the Halls” seesaws between these beautiful Real Estate-ish guitar lines, and a fuzzed-out power chord chorus, which are like orange and chocolate to me: two great tastes that I hadn’t realized would taste so great together. Delicious!

Bottom Line: Yet another strong compilation to mine for mix-worthy singles, and there are most certainly some gems here!