Feels like we haven't had much free Pop Punk this year. I remember when pretty much all the free ones were Pop Punk. I guess we cycle through genres like socks these days. So here's one from a Yonkers group with a somewhat sinister looking logo. Nothing sinister about Shakeout's Christmas single, though. "Happy Holidaze" is just the sort of peppy poppy Pop Punk we've known through the years. The song is name-your-price at Bandcamp, with any proceeds going to VH1's Save The Music Foundation.
 If you can't trust Santa, who can you trust? Missouri's Ben Diesel on the downfalls of living in the city. Apparently, Santa robbed him blind...got his weed, his booze, his car, his CAT! For crap sake, Santa stole his CAT. Do you realize this is the second Christmas song this year to reference a stolen pet? It's an epidemic, I tellz ya. Nothing on four legs is safe. Then again, maybe the dude smoked his own weed and is just confused about everything else. Or maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. FWIW, Ben sums up his song by pointing out its all just stuff and stuff isn't what's important in life. But, Ben...your CAT. I would agree with you on the stuff thing--absolutely 100%...but the CAT. Your CAT is not just stuff, Ben. Pets are people, too. Just ask Missy Katz. "South City Christmas" by Ben Diesel is name-your-price on Bandcamp.
We introduced you (well, those of you who needed an introduction) to Goddammit Jeremiah in our write-up of "A Very Cherry Christmas 13". They were the ones who did the Slade parody. We even told you they'd done an entire free Christmas EP. As soon as I saw the title--"Santa Baby Must Die"--I knew these were my kind of people. Well Goddammit Jeremiah has done it again with an all-new name-your-price collection of irreverent Punked up parodies of classic Christmas songs, "Rejoice!".
They must be making these things specifically for mixtapers. These tunes are the perfect drop-ins to spice up your holiday headtape. I purposely left in the run-times up top so you can see what I mean. For example, take "Hark!" It goes like this: "Hark the herald angels sing! Fake News." Is that perfect or what? And, trust me, it's not even 15 seconds, though that's what it's pegged at. My favorite is "Away In A Travelodge" (not embedded due to a single use of the "s" word):
Away in a Travelodge, somewhere near Crewe
The only poor bastard that’s staying here is you The staff eye you up as you enter the place A mixture of pity and scorn on their face
Although "Rejoice!" is name-you-price, any money you do wish to contribute will go to the UK charity Crisis.org, giving help to the homeless. Your call on that, but this is good stuff, fun stuff, perfect stuff for a mixtape. Just sayin'
Black Friday is coming up and you're going to need something to get you through it. You could down 5 pots of coffee or you could take a single cup of Dollyrots to keep you going. The Dollyrots Punk Rock their way through 5 familiar Christmas songs in under three minutes. That'll get your blood pumping. "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Silent Night", "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty The Snowman" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". In under 3 minutes. (And, somehow, when The Dollyrots tell you they aren't leaving until they get some figgy pudding, you believe them.)
Yes, you know it's Christmas because The Dollyrots always come through with a great single for the season. And this year's could well be your Black Friday anthem. "The Dollyrots Do Christmas" is name-your-price, but any tips received will go to charity. Read all about it at Bandcamp.
Back in 2016, we reviewed Vista Blue's Christmas EP, "Check It Twice". The group left us a note, recently, to remind us that they had done one in 2017, too. Not only that, a third is expected this year. More about Vista Blue on the front page, but their 2017 offering was "Christmas Sounds". And it's a rockin' good time all the way through. Vista Blue shows a strong Ramones influence and I think that's why "There's A Star" is my favorite from this one, as it has the strongest Ramones-like sound. Additionally, "There's A Star" (written by Rusty Spell) attacks the season with a bit more weight than some of Vista Blue's other holiday songs, which tend to the quirky, humorous, or ironic. "Nobody Wants Booster", for example, is about the toy nobody wants (that one's very Weezer). "Christmas Sounds" is available as a name-your-price download at Bandcamp.
I missed so much stuff last Christmas, which at least gives me plenty to post before the inevitable onslaught in December. Even so, I can't believe I missed The Dollyrots annual holiday platter. I love me some Dollyrots. They are the embodiment of what I mean when I say, if the band is having a good time, the listener is having a good time. Kelly and Luis being parents these days, and still keeping up their grueling schedule, they could be excused for sounding a little tired, now and then. But, nope, they bring boundless energy, excitement, and joy to everything they do. If they could bottle some of that and sell it, they'd never have to work again (which would probably drive them crazy anyway).
Last Christmas, the annual Dollyrots Christmas single was "Last Christmas". I've heard several Pop Punk covers of the old Wham track and this one pretty much tops them all. Not only do The Dollyrots rock it, but they have fun doing it. And that's the key. Even so, their version of Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and their decked-up-for-the-holidays Christmas version of their own "Because I'm Awesome", "Because I'm Santa" are still my favorites of their treasure trove of Christmas tracks. You'll find a whole bunch of their past Yuletide selections "name-your-price" at Bandcamp, in case you missed any along the way. Why? Because The Dollyrots are awesome.
L.A. Punk label, Wiretap Records, has put together a nice holiday comp. In addition to a couple we've mentioned before, including Brenna Red's "Punk Rock Christmas" (but it wasn't free before), there are several tracks from Wiretap's stable recorded especially for this free compilation. And, while there's plenty of energy, here, if (like me) you find yourself in need, there's also a good deal of variety. Spanish Love Songs do a nice Electro Punk Country cover of Dwight Yoakam's "Santa Can't Stay". My Double My Brother cleverly borrow a riff from the ancient Folk tune "Christmas Day In The Morning" to come up with something that's both fresh and familiar. I was kinda hoping the Avenues track was somebody finally doing something different with the Donny Hathaway song (please, somebody, do something different with that song, or don't bother recording it), but, no, "This Christmas" is an original. I dig "Santa On 98th" from the Lucky Eejits. Hated "Blue Christmas" (of course). And the record closes with a Lo-Fi Weezer cover from Brendan Scholz. But the best track, to me, was the opener from Get Married, "Christmas (Have A Wonderful Life)." That's probably music to the ears of Wiretap as their most recent release is Get Married's EP "Into The Cosmos". You can check the tunes from the Get Married EP on Bandcamp, but its also available in limited edition grenadine red or alien skin green 7" vinyl from the label.
1. Bacio - I Can't Wake Up At Dawn
2. Ages - Kafeklubbin' 3. The Only Ghost In Town - Snowfall 4. The Classic Brown - The City, The Country and Me 5. Joy Riding - Empty Fingers 6. By Surprise - Cult of Seasonality 7. It's A King Thing - Israel and the New Breed 8. Mark Martucci - Maybe It's Still Christmas 9. Aspiga - Momentary Flashes 10. Chainsaw - Good Friend (free) 11. Dave Damm - An Audio Christmas Story Christmas, 2008 12. Endor Endor - The Meek 13. The Not Fur Longs - We Wish You a Marley Christmas 14. The Pizza Carolers - Meet Me In Dilworth Park 15. Only On Weekends - Christmastime In Kingston Falls 16. Somerdale - Merry Christmas Time DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP  The Arbor Christmas Show cast performs at the Audubon Auction House in 2012 | Photo by Mark Martucci | markmartucciphoto.com
It's year 17 for the Arbor Christmas collection and, damn, if this ain't the best one yet. If "I Can't Wake Up At Dawn" from Bacio don't light your Christmas fire, well....what the heck is wrong with you?
The "Arbor Christmas" collections showcase some of the finest Indie music in Southern New Jersey. Like Santa's elves, they work on this project all year long and then there's a live show that's pretty much the biggest celebration of the season and there are actual CDs, there (and nowhere else ever again). This year's show is TONIGHT at the Holy Saviour Gymnasium in Westmont, NJ (generally 7-11). Oh, yeah, this is all for charity, yo (the money goes to The Arbor Foundation, run by The Life Raft Group, in support of those with GIST and their families and survivors, in memory and name of Jon Montague, whose idea the show originally was). Jon passed away of GIST (a cancer that attacks the GI tract) after the first two shows, but everyone had pledged that, for Jon, the show would go on. And go on it has. And when I say show, I mean show. In the early years, bands were confused, thinking they'd play full sets and that it was just music. But, every year, they write a show--an S-H-O-W, show--an original script which usually has something to do with Christmas and the year just passed. Holy Heck, I can only imagine what they'll be doing this year. For the rest of us, we get the benefit of a free collection of great Christmas music, pretty much all of it original (I'd have to check, honestly). If you're late to the party, all 17 volumes are still available, though, beyond the year of release, there is a price for the albums (in the interest of helping to raise money for The Arbor Foundation). As for this year's, I went through real quick and can't say there was anything I didn't like. Seriously, I'd hate to even mention one track, lest I not mention the others. But that opening track is killer. And it's all uphill from there. If I'm not mistaken, track 11 sounds like a bit of one of the earlier shows. Maybe not. Anyway, get this at Bandcamp and name-your-price. Feeling especially charitable? Go buy some of the other volumes of "Arbor Christmas". You really can't go wrong.
Desperately need some wake-up juice. To that end, here's a bit of an All-Star band from the studios of Radio City Records in Columbus, Ohio doing a Pop Punk cover of Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas Is You". We've got members of We Are The Movies, Heroes Like Villains, Absolute Hero, Hit The Lights plus Claire Enderle on this track. There appears to be a skip about 2:30 minutes in. It's in both the stream and the download, so maybe it's supposed to be in there. In any case, it don't cost nothin' and it's as loud as very black coffee, so have a cup and stop whining, ya punk.
1. The Diamond Center - Christmas Is Here
2. Soft Science - Marshmallow World 3. Bummer & Lazarus - A World Without Christmas 4. Josh Goodman - Christmas In The Valley 5. Bright Ideas - When You Think About Christmas Time 6. 2014 - You Gotta Love Christmas 7. Dylan Barnes - O Holy Night 8. Red Hot Fire - I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm 9. Knock Knock - White Christmas (Fog Version) 10. Charles Albright - White Christmas Minority 11. Gangee - Festivus (For The Rest Of Us) 12. The Strange Party - N(eg)ativity 13. Andy Tate - All I Want 14. Dylan Barnes - White Christmas 15. Danny Offer - The Christmas Party 16. Kittens Having Kittens - It's Warmer When You're Near 17. The Crow Canyon Boys - You Left Me On Christmas 18. The Enlows - Winterman 19. Matt Crap (from The MOANS) - Scary Christmas To All (And To All A Ghoul Night) 20. White Women Love Jazz - Yule Shoot Your Eye Out 21. The Ninja Family Orchestra - Jingle Bells DOMESTIC HONEY BLOG 22. Dylan Barnes - Carol Of The Bells FREE DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP 23. The Croissants - Corn Cob Pipe PURCHASE CASSETTE FROM BANDCAMP 24. Tell el-Armana - First To Arrive 25. Han's Father - Christmas On Tatooine 26. The Caganers - (Poo Poo) Caga Tio 27. The Four Eyes - The Christmas Mash 28. Dylan Barnes - Silent Night
Remember this one? "A Christmas Comp For You From Sacramento" was the subject of a post we did years ago called "Stubby's Holiday Screw-Up". Feel free to look back at laugh, if you have a free moment. Earlier this year, the guy who put this together contacted me (having just learned that we had featured him back then). He had long wondered, he said, how people from all over the place had ever heard about this very, very local project done for fun. Well, he seems to think Stubby's had something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not. But the BIG news is that the comp is FREE TO DOWNLOAD AGAIN! YAY! And they had a new supply of cassettes, but they've been selling well and I see they're down to 3 remaining. If you must buy, run right over. If a free download'll do ya, well, hell, run right over. You never know when I'm going to screw up again. And, rather than write it up new, here's what I originally said about the album before I screwed up.
I have to say this is one of the most fun collections of Christmas music I've heard this year [2014]. Domestic Honey is, according to his profile, "just a dude in Sacramento that tricks his friends into recording stuff he can put out." It was as recently as September that this "dude" (Cody Scott) decided to go for it--get a bunch of local Sacramento musicians and bands to write and record Christmas music. So they definitely made good time. The music covers the Indie waterfront, with most of it tending toward Rock and Pop (but there's lots of variety). With so little time to pull it together, there's a raw sound to the compilation, with a few tracks in the Lo Fi range. And every song has its charm. This reminds me of a lot of early Indie Pop and Indie Rock. The spirit's there. I can't even tell you the highlights. It's easier to tell you the tracks I don't like......there were none. On a collection of 28 tracks, do you know how hard that is to pull off? It's a million to one shot. The songs are mostly short (some clocking in at under a minute) and Dylan Barnes' organ interludes are a special added delight.
Zombie lovers, there's a track for you from Matt Crap of the Moans. Star Wars fans, you're covered. And there's Lo Fi Alt Bluegrass from The Crow Canyon Boys. Or maybe its Punk Bluegrass. Who even knew there was such a thing? Electronica? Yeah, we got that from White Women Love Jazz (and, ok, that was my least favorite). Bummer and Lazarus rework a Peter & Gordon classic into "A World Without Christmas". The Four Eyes give a spritely Alt Rock version of "The Monster Mash". And the "Silent Night" closing is priceless ("Dylan, keep going damn it, I'm not done"). "A Christmas Comp For You" has got something for just about everybody. Now, true enough, I like more things than I don't. But I think even the biggest Grinch is going to find at least 6 or 7 tracks, here, that they absolutely love. And, if you can't find just one--just ONE--song, here, to use on your mixtapes, I dunno; I'd have to guess you're too conventional for my taste. It's free, for crap sake. Just download it and try it on for size. You'll find "A Christmas Comp For You" on Bandcamp. |
The FREE ListHere we hope to direct you to some of the Christmas music on the web that can be yours absolutely free. We will not direct you to mp3 or sharity sites, here, but only to artist sites, label sites, and other authorized and unquestionably legal locations. Archives2010 FREE List Categories
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