There was a time when indie bands wouldn’t touch Christmas with a ten-foot candy cane (not sure if this was meant as pullquote...)
EVERY DECEMBER, I LOOK forward to digging out my Christmas CDs. Not your usual Crimbo hits, mind, but my special selection of indie and alternative Christmas tunes. Forget your Slade, Pogues and Chris de Burgh. My goodie bag is filled with names you wouldn’t see on The Best Christmas Album . . . Ever!. Bands such as The Flaming Lips, Eels, Low and The Futureheads, all entering the Christmas spirit from somewhere leftfield and providing their quirky take on the season that’s in it. And a few of them have become classics, such as Sufjan Stevens’ Songs For Christmas, a box-set of five festive EPs.
There was a time when indie bands wouldn’t touch Christmas with a ten-foot candy cane. But if Bruce can do Santa Claus is Coming to Town, then that’s okay. These days, every alt rocker wants to tackle a Christmas tune, and put their sonic footprint in the snow. Even Irish bands are getting in on the act – Pugwash’s Tinsel Marzipan and Funzo’s This Christmas being two fine homegrown examples.
It’s nice to know there is an alternative to the big, dumb Christmas albums of 2011 – some big, dumb indie albums that might just put a smile on your face. Two of the best are by two rock’n’roll couples.
Tim Wheeler of Northern Irish band Ash has teamed up with his girlfriend Emmy the Great for This is Christmas, a collection of originals including Snowflakes, Christmas Moon and the charming Zombie Christmas.
Actress and singer Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M Ward, otherwise known as She Him, have released the fantastic A Very She Him Christmas. Inspired by The Carpenters, The Beach Boys and Elvis Presley, this is an intimate take on classic Christmas songs that will make you want to snuggle up by the fire.
Tom Smith of Editors and Andy Burrows of Razorlight are not a couple, but they have teamed up for a festive album, Funny Looking Angels. The Editors frontman has a deep, stentorian voice that suits such songs as In the Bleak Midwinter, while Burrows’s higher-pitched vocals are, he says, the “angelic frosting” on the album.
If humbug is your preferred delicacy, then you might find solace in The Atheist Christmas EP, by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, which features such songs as Post-Apocalypse Christmas.
Although you’ll find a good dollop of irony among the tinsel, you’ll also find a lot of love for the spirit of Christmas, and some of the best indie Christmas songs will give you a toasty feeling inside.
