Walked With a Reindeer, The Yule Logs (self-issued)

We just discovered these guys, the pride of Chico, Calif., in 2009 with their first all-Christmas album, and they're already back for 2010 with another full playlist of rockin' Christmas tuneage. The boys were thrilled with our positive review of the previous disc and gave Mistletunes an early preview of this new disc, so I don't quite have a release date nailed down yet. UPDATE: It's out now at CD Baby, or click the art to get it from Amazon. Like the previous one, it's a mix of originals, classics and parodies played with panache. "Christmas Lights" would be a natural single for this set, a pop-rock ode to holiday displays that can be "seen from space." "Hey Jake It's Christmas" name-checks the guy who always takes the partying to the nth degree, "That Girl (For Christmas)" identifies what (or who) the singer wants to see under the tree, and they take a stab at recalling the "First Christmas For Baby Jesus." I don't think there were any honey-baked hams or gingerbread men in the manger, but then I haven't read the Wikipedia entry lately, so what do I know? Among the cover tunes are "El Senor Frosty," in which the snowman sashays to a Latin beat and medleys "Feliz Navidad," then returns to the Frosty song in Spanish; "Runaround Rudolph" brings Dion and the Belmonts together with William Howard Taft (?), Dick Nixon (??) and Elvis Presley on the famous reindeer's theme song; a positively Beatles-esque "Winter Wonderland"; "Northpole 4-5789," a holiday takeoff on the Marvelettes' song; a rocked-up "In the Bleak Midwinter" that's not so bleak; and a nice take on "Sha La La," the Cathy Harrington song from the Chris Stamey Christmas album. Another great outing by a great holiday band. UPDATE: Deleted a reference to another cover/parody, as the original publishers are withholding permission for the band to release it. Here's a live acoustic version of "Northpole 4-5789":