With all the various media outlets at one's disposal in this day and age, it's pretty easy to get a sense of whether a holiday album is worth buying (or perhaps even just one or two tracks, after separating the wheat from the chaff), which is important if you're only going to be listening for a month every year.
Without question, this year was one of the best for new (and almost entirely original) Christmas albums. Only four would fit into the picture, but there were five that are good enough to be tabbed as an Honorable Mention for 2018.
* Socks, JD McPherson. 10 original tunes, and they're all winners. The title tune is about every little kid's least favorite Christmas gift, but along the way McPherson demonstrates, in about as fun a manner imaginable, how much he loves the holiday season. These are tunes you can dance to, should you so desire. Highlights: "Hey, Skinny Santa!," "All the Gifts I Need," "Claus vs. Claus," "Every Single Christmas."
* Hey! Merry Christmas!, The Mavericks. Their own website describes their sound as "beyond category," incorporating "Roy Orbison-style balladry, Tex-Mex and Rockabilly." That'll do, and on their holiday effort, one couldn't be faulted for thinking that they're listening to a great but long lost record from the early to mid-1960s. Except for "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," all originals, and also with a healthy dose of fun. Highlights: "Santa Wants to Take You For a Ride," which is quite possibly the nastiest holiday song since Elvis scorched the chimney with "Santa Claus is Back in Town," the title track, and "One More Christmas."
* Love the Holidays, Old 97's. Rhett Miller's band has been around forever; sometimes their albums are merely good, and sometimes they're incredible. The best think about "Love the Holidays" is that if you didn't listen that closely to the lyrics, you'd think you were listening to a "normal" Old 97's album. And I mean that as a compliment. Highlights: the title track, "Gotta Love Being a Kid," which sounds a bit like a Christmas song filtered through an early Clash album, "Christmas is Coming," "Snow Angels." If you want to hear the band's take on some traditional carols, be sure to buy the deluxe edition.
* Ingrid Michaelson's Songs of the Season. Michaelson tried her hand at holiday tunes last year with an EP; that effort was clearly successful enough for her to take a dive into the deep end of the holiday pool. This sounds more like a traditional pop star Christmas album than any of the others on the list; it includes old chestnuts like "White Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," but in versions that add to the canon, rather than simply repeating it. There are a handful of originals, but the highlight may be her (slow) take on Mariah Carey's monster Christmas song, joined by Leslie Odom Jr.
Not pictured above but equally deserving of the honor is Rodney Crowell's "Christmas Everywhere," which I've seen described as an "anti-Christmas album," which I think was the author's way of noting that some of these songs are about as sad as you'll ever hear on a holiday album. The clear highlight, and one that definitely falls into that category, is "Christmas in New York," which my friends can definitely look forward to hearing on next year's compilation.
All in all, a jolly time. Thank you to all of the above artists for brightening the holiday season with these outstanding efforts.
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