Category: Alt Rock

Stubbys House of Christmas

THE NEW LIGHTS - CHRISTMAS ALONE WITH YOU

12/21/2014

1.   Jesus Christ
2.   I Can't Feel Christmas Anymore
3.   I'm Not Coming Home (It's Christmas)
4.   Haven't Seen You Since The Summer
5.   Cold Weather Man
6.   Christmas Love Songs
7.   Holiday Road
8.   Everyone's Asleep
9.   To Know You Waited (At Christmas)
10. The Snow Speaks
11. Ain't No Star (On My Christmas Tree)
12. (It's Not Christmas) 'Til It Snows In Boston
13. Silent Night

SOUL SHOP RECORDING STUDIO
DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP

Soul Shop is a Massachusetts recording studio--all analog. For the second year in a row, Soul Shop gathered up as much of the local talent as they could to cut a holiday album. The New Lights are the Soul Shop house band, and they're joined on the album by a long long list of musicians and vocalists from area bands (if you want to see who is playing/singing on each track, click the "info" buttons). "Christmas Alone With You", unlike its predecessor, contains mostly original material. And the songs range from Americana to Soulful shuffles, to straight up Rock. You'll have to seek out your own favorites, but mine were "Haven't Seen You Since The Summer", which sounds like a 70s soul number, and the Bluesy "Cold Weather Man". Having lived in Massachu for a bit, it was also cool listening to "(It's Not Christmas) 'Til It Snows In Boston" (with Jeremy Lee Given on vocals and keys). And the cover songs, "Jesus Christ" and "Holiday Road" are both excellent. "Christmas Alone With You" is a free Bandcamp download. Once you've checked that, you might want to have a listen to 2013's "Last Month Of The Year". They made 30 hard copy CDs of that one. Though I can't say if any of the CDs remain, the digital download of "Last Month Of The Year" is also free.

PONY BOY - (PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ON) CHRISTMAS EVE

12/20/2014

Pony Boy is actually a woman--singer/songwriter Marchelle Bradanini. She calls her music "Junkyard Country", but it's a very raw and rootsy blend of Country, Blues and Rock. There's certainly more to it than that, even, but let's not get bogged down on the labels.

Earlier this year, Marchelle released the EP "The Devil In Me", which met with tremendous critical praise and is showing up on lots of end-of-the-year Best lists.

"(Please Don't Leave On) Christmas Eve" is the tonic for those weary of Holly Jolly Christmas songs. Marchelle says she was somewhat inspired by the Phil Spector album, and there's definitely a Wall-of-Sound aspect to this holiday tearjerker. There are guitars twanging, bells jingling, and soulful background singers. But what makes this one of the supreme Christmas tracks of 2014 is Marchelle--channeling Patsy Cline, Janis Joplin, and The Chantels simultaneously (and, yes, Elvis is in the mix somewhere, too).

I've already said it. "(Please Don't Leave On) Christmas Eve" is one of the best you'll hear this year. I'm sorry I can't embed this one for you. But, if you act fast (as I would advise you to do), you can download the song free from Elmore Magazine (just look for the arrow thingy, upper right on the player). Move too slow and you'll have to get it from Amazon or iTunes. But get it.

THEE FINE LINES - SEASONAL SONGS

12/20/2014

Was a time when I used to be very keen at picking up the annual Christmas songs from Garage Rockers Thee Fine Lines. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.... And then I kind of lost track of them. I couldn't find anymore Christmas songs from Thee Fine Lines. So I just kind of figured they'd split up or maybe got tired of doing Christmas songs. Nope. They were still doing a Christmas song a year, apparently. And, last year, they put them all together in one handy dandy Bandcamp download called "Seasonal Songs". So somebody may have covered it last year, but I wasn't here.

Now, if my math is correct, they've got a Christmas song up there for every year from 2004 - 2013. None for this year. Yet. They do say they tend to record their annual Christmas song right before Christmas. So there is still time.

Doesn't much matter to me right now because there are six songs here I haven't yet heard. And it's always a blast to hear "Nothin' But Tears Under My Christmas Tree" again. So go help yourself to some of the finest raw Rock Christmas music you'll ever hear. As Bluto from "Animal House" would say, "don't cost nothin'."

THE HEMISPHERES - SANTA'S WHISKEY

12/19/2014

Fomerly with My Favorite Highway, Dave Cook's new project is The Hemispheres (it's another of those band names for a solo project things). And if his three-song Christmas EP "Santa's Whiskey" is any indication, I'm a huge fan right now. These are brilliantly written pieces which, I'm hoping, aren't entirely autobiographical. Because all three songs are about dealing with the holidays after the one you love has gone. "This Silent Night" contrasts all the happy memories of Christmas together with the emptiness of Christmas alone. "Commercial Holiday" is about how all the bling in the universe is meaningless without the one you love. And "Santa's Whiskey" might be the saddest of all. In "Santa's Whiskey", the implication seems clear (as it doesn't on the other two) that it wasn't a breakup that separated them, but rather a death. Everything has changed and the guy whose "laugh could light up any room" is getting drunk on Santa's whiskey.

"We do our best to move along
Like a note without a song
And I can't believe you're gone
Cause I could swear you're near when the Christmas lights come on"

The lyrics are truly gorgeous. The imagery is vivid. And your heart breaks listening. Really, you can't write music any better than this.

"Santa's Whiskey" is available as a free download at Soundcloud. And do stop by Dave's Facebook page and give him a "Like".

EAT ME - I FORGOT IT WAS CHRISTMAS

12/19/2014

Santa, I've been a good boy all year (mostly) and I want hard rock with fuzz guitars for Christmas. Here ya go. From Britain's Eat Me, "I Forgot It Was Christmas". Incidentally, once again google would have been useful before naming the group since "Eat Me" seems to be a very popular band name.

Like a lot of folks, especially in the UK, Eat Me has about had enough of Simon Cowell's idea of Christmas music. Says Jamie Warnes, “We want to show that whilst rock music might be unfashionable right now, there’s nothing more fun than getting together with your best buddies and rocking out – especially at Christmas time, with The X Factor and its bland warblers all over everyone’s telly sets."

The song is free on Bandcamp and comes with a virtual flip..."Stay Another Day". "Stay Another Day" is one of those songs folks in the UK insist on calling a Christmas song, even though it has nothing to do with the season, simply because it charted around Christmas time decades ago.

THE RED PILLS - WALKING IN THE AIR

12/19/2014

I love the unexpected. For some reason, the Brits love "Walking In The Air". I suppose it's not unlike our love of the songs from Charlie Brown's Christmas, since "Walking In The Air" made its debut in an animated holiday special. I'd like to say that the difference is that the Vince Guarldi songs were better. But the problem I have with "Walking In The Air" is how its done. It's always presented with that high boys choir tenor voice that sounds like someone's been sucking down too much helium or something. When I have enjoyed the song is when its done differently. The Red Pills (after poking fun at the original) Rock the crap out of "Walking In The Air", making the song genuinely enjoyable for me. You can download this one and The Red Pills' 2010 Pink cover of "White Christmas" free at Bandcamp.

SISTERS - HOLD ME CLOSER TINY CHRISTMAS

12/19/2014

For the title alone, I was going to like this one. Sisters is a three piece Indie Rock band from across the pond. Ireland to be precise. "Hold Me Closer Tiny Christmas" isn't really indicative of their usual sound, but it has an hypnotic Indie Pop flavor. More often, Sisters Rock it. NME spoke glowingly of their "bratty riffs and snarky vocals" and they're definitely gaining a following. So check out "Hold Me Closer Tiny Christmas"--it's free to download--and then check out more from the band on Soundcloud. There's always room for one more on the bandwagon.

SPACE CRANES - JINGLE BELL SAMBA

12/19/2014

"Jingle Bell Samba" didn't grab me until the vocals kicked in. The Synth Pop beat was a tad overwhelming. But I dig the laidback vocal harmonies from Chris and Kate. All told, I get that nice Indie Pop feel. And, if you like The Space Cranes on "Jingle Bell Samba", you might also enjoy "Christmas Robots"--an EP Chris and Kate did back in 2011. "Winter Wonderland" is done in a similar style as "Jingle Bell Samba", but they explore different sounds on the rest. "Good King Wenceslas" rocks, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is a Blues, "Jingle Bells" is Folk Pop, and so on.

WINTER WONDERLAND - NAT LYON

12/19/2014

Once again, I have to point out that there's no logic to why I like what I like. I will say I do like different. So I'm not sure anyone else will like this, but it hit me at a good moment. Nat Lyon was originally a Connecticut yankee who had a fairly conventional life and then chucked it all to renovate a farmhouse, herd Newfoundlands, and make music. His influences appear to be Punk and so his original music comes out as Folk Punk or Anti Folk. Lyon's "Winter Wonderland" is virtually unrecognizable, musically. That's why I like it. It's raw, rough, and droning, and yet still kinda sounds like an Indie Pop Rock tune at the end of the day. Cool beans (not magic beans, just cool ones). Free at Bandcamp.

HIGHER HANDS - CHRISTMAS ON HUDSON ST.

12/18/2014

See, the reason I'm actively trying to not post music that some of my Festive Friends are posting is because I want you to visit them as often as you visit here. More so, even. I love what these folks do. Be it Brigitte at Lie In The Sound, Jim at Christmas Underground, Guuz and friends at Christmas A-Go-Go, "Rudolph" (Francis) at Mistletunes or any of my other favorite holiday haunts, they've got unique tastes and insights and they each find plenty of stuff I would never find without them. It's not a "credit" thing; its about rewarding the effort. Trust me, there's a lot of effort involved. And there's plenty of stuff out there (and an infinite supply of ear destroying garbage) that we could all go our separate ways and never duplicate. Now, as Jim has pointed out, there's nothing inherently bad about overlap. Sometimes, its a very good thing. But I also think its cool that we push each other to dig deeper (I am never getting to bed before daylight again until after Christmas, am I?). All that said.....

There is just some stuff I need over here for my own head. And this find from Guuz over at Christmas A-Go-Go is one of them. Jazzy Funk and Deep Hip Hoppy Soul from Higher Hands, a Maryland group. "Christmas On Hudson St." has five tracks, including what I believe is the first cover of Sharon Jones' great "Ain't No Chimneys In The Projects". I love these dudes. And I don't think "I Saw Three Ships" has ever been so funked up. Dig it! An instant download at Bandcamp.