A Christmas Kind of Town, Marah (Yep Roc)

I wasn't expecting this bunch of South Philly guys to put out a Christmas album, and given their status as a band that combines a lot of the better features of folks from Bruce Springsteen to the latter-day jam bands, I definitely wouldn't have expected vaudeville as the sound of such an album. Still, props to the guys for putting so much elbow grease into this 2005 release. There are five originals, including "New York Is a Christmas Kind of Town," "Counting the Days ('Til Christmas)," "Christmas With the Snow," the throwaway "Handsome Santa" and "Counting the Days, a Christmas Polka." They throw these in among a bunch of classics and covers, reaching all the way to Buck Owens for "Christmas Time's a-Comin" on one end and back to "Christmas Time Is Here." And they knit it all together with short skits in between tunes. I'd warn folks who have heard Marah before however, this sounds less like their regular stuff and more like something in between the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. UPDATE: The band put out an EP on vinyl, Counting the Days, that combines a couple cuts from this album with three fresh tunes, "Home For the Holidays," the original "Valley Forge" and "Mele," the latter better known as "Mele Kalikimaka." You can download it directly from Yep Roc after you buy it, or you can just download it there.