Category: rock

Shake those zills on your timbrel, baby!

Zach Rocks wants this so bad. His “Christmas Tambourine Song” will make that clear. Rocking, ostensibly. But it’s kidsong through and through.

Mr. Aaron wants you to know about his “Christmas Tambourine” with his gospel influenced pop. Oh, you’ll know.

Despite bongos backing him up Hank Valencia asks us to “Wake Up, It’s Christmas” with the shaking of tambourines. For Christ. Doggerel describes this better than easy listening pop.

Cross Canadian Ragweed sings about a homeless family busking for Christmas. Daddy’s on guitar, Mama’s on tambourine, “Lawrence” is missing Christmas. Weepy folk.

LAPêCHE has happier boho family folk memories with Daddy playing guitar and her hitting the “Red Tambourine.” Still depressing.

The Bosshoss slightly lifts the mood with “It’s Christmas Again,” a country pop ode to celebrating with the tambourine jing-a-ling-a-linging (jing-a-ling-a-linging). Nutty fluff.

This time it’s a synthesizer and a tambourine (and a metal drummer) for Herod the Fink’s Christmas show. “Jimmy & Robert” is a RnR showstopper, give you that. (BTW, that’s Stewart and Goulet–for the title.)

“Rock´n´roll X-Mas” at least as retold by The Refreshments features a tambourine. Dad rock, but really slow. Pretty good sax.

Some mighty good Xmas songs about instruments have long before come and gone on this blog and i’ve done my best to repeat nary a one this theme. Until now. Red State Update’s “Christmas Tambourine” was wasted on my month of Songs about Songs. Now it revives to rock us into the proper celebratory mood. Respect!

It’s a woodwind! It’s brass! It’s John Coltrane’s piece!

It can create a moody mood, too. Over the Rhine’s “All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue” cites an old song on the radio wailing on the sax. That’s all it takes… blue. This one is bluesy jazz.

The elegy of “December’s Quiet” by Winter Sage angrily jazzes the emptiness left behind of your unattended sax. You, you’re gone. [Their “Fireplace Letters” is more epistolary, a reading that taps the horn as ghostly. Quite the reputation.] [Finally, their “Homecoming Static” pits rap against the missing Daddy’s dusty saxophizzle.]

The mellow sound of the saxophone echoes the brokenhearted of Binary Beats’ “Christmas in Blue.” It is allowed that all music has changed in mood once you have gone away.

Winter bound, an old man questions “Have I Done any Good.” He then picks up a saxophone in his hospital bed and serenades his daughters. It’s a Herod the Fink world, you guys.

Swinging into an upbeat, Dr. Kok adds trumpets to the saxophone for “This Jazzy Surprise.” It’s big band-ish, but elevator bound musically.

Ersatz Roaring ’20s from AI, or at least PerBEATlity, “Welcome to the Christmas Party” also kicks up a heel or two. Trumpets and saxophones again add to the ambience.

Amateur jazz band strikes back with “Santa Played The Bari Saxophone” by The Original Skazz Band (Feat. Joe Crumrine). Cooler solo.

Who to watch out for, however, would be the “Creepy Ol’ Saxman.” The Withers warn you with this ragtime pop, but fear less–the saxophone part is a cappella’d.

Jazzy rock that speaks to me, Chris August’s “Tell Me What You Want” goes behind the scenes for a mall Santa and what he gets asked for (saxophone). That’s a party in my ears.

The percussive gongs, the malleted piano bars, the carillon is so pretty to hear and so funny to watch. Silly music!

We tried TIMŌRĀTUS’s gift panic a couple years ago when Courtney didn’t know what to buy her significant other. NOW it’s “Christmas Present Crisis (David’s Conundrum)” in which he trolls the mall and, settling, wonders why this foreign speak n’ spell… they spelled it with a ‘G’–to which she replies Tha… that’s a glockenspiel… but, sweet. Metal millennial comedy.

“Santa’s Stuck on I-75” is Rubber Heart playing slick rock with an indie garage core. But they banter comically at the end like some ’60s ironic group. And in their ending they explain what this instrument is, god love ’em.

Part three’s weirder stuff.

The Boy Least Likely To indies sl-o-o-w pop into the form of “It Will Still be Christmas.” The bells liven the festivities considerably.

Ponderously slow bluesrock marks Waylan St. Palan & The Magic Elves’ “Bells of St. Ignatius.” The sax saves it.

Les Fradken’s “Jangle Bells” makes a rock pop party out of the instrumentality of those fabricated metal pieces. Boss.

Party rock from Sam Scola utilizes the “The Christmas Bells are Ringing” as message and lyrics over and over. You’ll get it.

Watered down rock (for elder Boomers?) from Ginger Cat (feat. Eric Mullins) dampens “Sleigh Bells.” When they say Go, Cat, Go–i think they mean some intrusive tabby wandering through the rehearsal.

Reverb punk and distortion from Song Boys destroy the joy of when “Slay Bells Ring.” Ouch.

Robert Blake (not that one, the ‘Dr. Bob’ one) wants to “Make Those Jingle Bells Rock.” He may not make them rock, but he makes them roll under the couch where you can’t reach.

Just a bit rap, “Jingle Jangle” is Yarou (feat. Sydney Smithmartin) classing up the joint with funk.

Sean Cole the Outlaw raps that merry monotone about suffering in “Ringing Like Bells.” That’s his phone, dawg. BLUE ALERT

Millennial musings from Lorena Leigh include Southwestern climes, hence “Navidad Bells.” The voice is strong in this one indie.

Indie folk from Krisp and the Kringles warbles out the message of “Bells of Peace.” Get to it, wudja?

A Fine Frenzy can’t make sense of a distant family reuniting for the holidays. They recommend ringing bells to “Wish You Well.” Pretty indie pop.

Make Like Monkeys declare “I Love You Jingle Bells” with the coolest of retro rock. A bit obsessive.

This is a pretty loose term: stringed, skinned, brass, speaker, deep-throated? (It just means pitched.) Well, we’ll stick mostly with the longneck guitary thing. Electric, at times. At other times–look out.

Donna Singer gets jazzed when she reveals that time “Santa Plays the Bass.” It’s a North Pole jam session of moderate consequences. Unplugged.

DETOUR! Monty Harper (feat: Lisa Harper (tenor ukulele) & Donald Brown (cajon)) reveal in their backroom how “Santa’s Got a U Bass.” That’s a ukulele, kids. No, you can’t borrow mine. I don’t have one. Fine surf rock.

David M. Bax falsettos “Merry Swidmas” about Santa’s visit (where not a bass was playing). This downbeat jazz also wishes you a Merry Bassmas, so there’s that.

DETOUR: Feel the bass, see the lights, quips Kwistone in “The Santa in da Club.” Yeah, it’s club pop–you might wanna card this one for legality. But, it’s all about that sound system. Their “Santa’s Sleigh Drift” EDMs how important the bassline thumping in your ride must be.

Carols played on the bass still get a pass, but comedy about that monotone sound gets a play. So, here’s “Amazing Bass” from the Bob & Tom Show (morning radio from the ’90s, wee ones).

Merle Haggard interrupts his breaking out of county for Christmas when “I Made the Prison Band.” Ol’ C+W what names the players, beginning with the bassist. The power of performance compels him.

A gut bass, too features as well in “My Cajun Christmas” by Gary Strickland. Decorous Zydeco.

J9’s “Island Christmas” also includes this instrument for their Polynesian sound. Is there any ethnic genre the bass can’t anchor?!

“A Caveat Christmas” in which the elves are kicked into gear by music is played by Caveat (feat. Kelsey Minko & Jonny Jed). Trent, the bassist, leads the charge to save the gift dispensation. American R’n’R, and it wails.

Again: JMaq singsongs the wisdom of the ages with his electronic “Christmas isn’t Real.” Please address each one of his points singly.

There’s gotta be more to this, reasons The Twelve Twenty-Four Collective with jazzy overtones to the easy listening in the searching “Christmas Isn’t Real.” By not real, they mean incomplete–in the big scheme of bells and wrapping paper.

Also trying to focus on what’s important, The TV & Film Music Collective (feat. Shay Watson) reduces our holidays to nothing… without you. “Christmas Isn’t Real” squeaks in under the gate as more jazzed easy listening, but don’t expect more lovelorn frippery this month.

Let’s return to our mission as The Brockstars nasty up the Advent in “Santa isn’t Real.” This rocker manipulates the masses to get some. Then some more.

Again: REVENGE covers Rusty Cage’s “Christmas Knife Game Song.” The bubblesome-ness is here, but this time the nihilism gets great electronic backup.

OG protest folk “Santa Doesn’t Exist” by Apple Juice Party stinks of Dylan, but breezes like Dylan.

The Burstein Boys twangle out some pop rock straight talk from Dad. “Santa Doesn’t Exist” takes us through the prog schema of the ’70s: genre flip-flops, ups/downs–the whole magilla. Wotta trip.

Silver Louzy And Friends ! (ft. Antony Looser) uses this door opening to echo the rock with “Santa Doesn’t Exist But Satan Does.” That electronic baseline is going to kill me.

Boys set loose with sound equipment usually do better than The No Hits, No Wonders. So, unless it’s a song-prank, the angry amateurish “There Ain’t No Santa Claus” is on the naughty list.

Starting with ‘Sleigh Ride’ Tenille Primus & Tenielle Lewis dance carefree around “There’s No Santa Claus” with electronic easy listening and parang.

Jed Davis mashes retro rock with elctro-pop in the inspiring “There is No Santa.” Quite a ride, but i’m not sure of our destination.

Boys, straightened out by the parents, might moan the blues rock like we get from Baxter and The Basics. “There is No Santa Claus” is a roller coaster of belief suss and disbelief mistrust. I need a scorecard here.

clockworkbird and japmn uncrank some industrial pop into slomo folk for “I Don’t Believe in Santa.” Who hurt you?

“Don’t Believe in Santa Claus” by ShitBricks is more band practice than garage. Know your exits at all times.

Clown School Dropout’s “I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus No More (War on Christmas Version)” mixes media, but stays in the slow lane of rock (or maybe the short bus of pop–i can’t tell from here). Perhaps it’s only global agenda philosophy that makes it dull.

“I Don’t Believe in Santa Claus” care of The Matt Lewis Experience also takes its time with carefully considered nihilism. Rocking folk pop that makes you think/not care.