Year-round Yuletide oddities
Holy broken homes, Batman, the war on drugs has taken its toll on some families.
Steven Battelle has a pretty little emo plaint about coming to grips with political narcotics-related takeovers following Mrs. Claus on the run from N. Pole nastiness in a clever little video for his song “A Christmas Cartel.” I think the lesson here is deal with it, bitch.
Flashback! It’s still acid on Christmas to music.
Here comes Inca Jones again with “LSD Under My Christmas Tree.” Psychedelia! Melts in your mind, not in your thoughts.
After more than three minutes Melissa Reaves steps up and belts out “A Mayberry on Acid Christmas Song.” This gospel revival shaking and rolling feels more like an acid trip than it discusses one.
The Vestibules give us the skinny on the actual trip in “Christmas on Acid.” This is some Chuck Jones cartoon fun. Oh yeah and just say no.
The Drovers revel is a special present–“Opium for Christmas.” Experimental alternative. I guess. Dig the appropriate zither.
Why try pot when the weather outside is frightful? Well, according to Garfunkle and Oates, it helps with your social interactions. But, as with many after-school specials, problems have a snowball effect and your skull-fucking leads to a “Scary F**ked Up Christmas,” not the least of your problems being Doug Benson as a paranoid Papa Noel hiding in the bed. Hyperactive folk.
Here be warnings of holiday hangovers.
Soul sisters The Thiams add some calliope to their RnB for a drowsy up and down trip back to the bar. It makes me dizzy, Mommy. “Christmas Hangover” is fun for all ages, but regretted by the adults after it’s over.
Muskrat Roberts gets is Richard Farnsworth on with his whining country mumble-mouthed “All I Got for Christmas was a Hangover.” A cautionary tale, to be sure. But he chuckles throughout.
Charles Attard assist Cheryl Camileri have a little skit to go with their bluesy rock lounge act in their front room. “Christmas Hangover” here is a sore point that fuels their Xmas bickering (‘It’s Rudolph, not Adolph!’). They’re cute, but they’re no Timbuk3 (despite trying). And yeah avoid that hangover thing.
A little rockabilly will tempt and taunt you. Book Club’s “Christmas Morning Hangover” at times overlaps tracks, grows discordant, and yells. But it ends on a sweet message while combining studio antics, antique home movies, and amateur animation in an adorable way. Fun fun fun when this hangover’s done.
About my favorite toasting Christmas song is from Narrative Crows. “Christmas Drinking Song” is dreamlike and transporting, a magic cocktail ride. These Montrealeans blend folk and alt rock into a heavenly choir of our shortcomings, pairing that with a hypnotic video of arctic foot and traffic fails the may leave you hypnotized. View responsibly.
Promises of bottomless bottle tipping may be a cry for help, or a comic reflection of our denial of a serious social problem. But gotta sing about it.
BLUE ALERT Killfuck rap out their disappointment with traditional holiday observations and figure a “Drunk Christmas” is enough to dump on the tree skirt. It’s angry, but not drunk angry. I read present envy.
Also fed up with the bourgeoisie are Tribe of the Vague offering “Drunk for Christmas” as a reasonable reaction to the mercantile madnes. It’s UK pop flipped on its arse and fondled with boyish tomfoolery.
Gaz Brookfield keeps us ‘cross the pond for his “Getting Drunk for Christmas.” He makes it sound like a fun party for him and the mates with a bouncy rock: 1 part garage, 2 parts alt, 1/2 part folk.
Some beer songs are in anticipation, or within the first couple rounds: upbeat.
Friday Night Music Club has a rousing light-punk (same anger, less cacophony) number in “The Christmas Beer Song.” It’s all fun and games until the next round.
Thorsø All-Stars from Thorsø, Denmark have posited a polite cowboy party with “Country Christmas Beer.” It’s their first song in English and they’ve worked hard musically to represent our Wild West bad manners.
Another big party is delineated by The Irish Rovers in their “Christmas in the Ale House.” What a great Celtic gathering.
Less glowingly glorious, The Bastions get a bit loud and naughty with “Beer, Jugs, & Bratwurst.” Oompah is a bit like the I-need-to-fit-a-toilet-soon rhythm, ist es nicht so?
Referencing beer but almost cheerfully anti-beer is the Christmas remix of Trailer Choir’s ‘Rockng the Beer Gut’ into “Rocking the Beer Gut (Holly Day Version)” wherein Santa claims he’s not fulla suds. Nice rollickin’ country-fried humor.
Even bad choices under the influences of beer seem fun. In re: “Christmas with Beer Theme Song” by Christmas with Beer makes the failures in life tolerable, amusing even. Thanks!
Not much on this colorless, odorless ingredient. But it’s best chilled straight out of the freezer, so let’s chip off the frost and sing a song of sauce or two.
In the new spirit of detente we live in Sonata Arctica brays out an encore crowd pleaser: “Merry Vodka Christmas!” Set to Have Nagila it is hardly holiday-themed. But we’re reaching here, so there.
Clive M pours out his unnamed friend’s heart with “Vodka and Snowflakes,” a song of regret and swallowed consonants. I like the overall feel, as in the wish that you were coming home sounds more like hu hoo hoon hu-hone hu-hone. It just delivers the message, you know?
‘Nog, like fruitcake, can be mere allusion to crappy Christmas property. Never had some? Who cares! It’s a quick reference to stupid adulthood–HA HA HA HA.
Sadly, some songs check the old eggnog box without any development. These can be fine Xmas tributes (ironic, sardonic, euphonic), but as salutes to sustenance–meh.
First Aid Kit chastises you nasty yulers with the garage rock manifesto “Do You Smell Eggnog?” Not so much about drink as about sin. Images of debauchery and sexual violence for the kiddies.
The Casual (featuring Ricky Armellino) tell an emo tale of Christmas miscommunication which hardly ever mentions “Eggnog.” It does BLUE ALERT defend LGBQT individuals angrily. And musically.
Julia Francis and Susan McIntyre perform a one-minute song in a one-minute song festival out of Seattle. “The Eggnog Song” is full of aphorism and attitude and touches on eggnog in a folk rock girl power aside.
Girl punk obscures just about everything in Electrocutes’ “Eggnog.” ‘Mnot sure if eggnog is sampled at all in this anger-chant. Pogo.
Caroline Schiff returns us to pretty prim poetry. Her “We’re Out of Eggnog” addresses bourgeois problems of this time of year, including i guess the ‘nog. Call me a sucker for mandolin tinkling, and a happy ending.
Many jazz noodlers have their own instrumental background music for the holidays entitled Eggnog for no particular reason, but Birmingham’s own, The Twang, have a nice number interrupted with the title (a la ‘Tequila’ or ‘Wipeout’) for a not ‘nog significant, but otherwise musically meritorious melody. Mm!
Me likee Richard Cummins singing coffeehouse morose about the holidays in “Egg Nog (The Norman Rockwell Mix).” It’s folk rock celebration with side eye.