Good Christian Men Rejoice, It's Parenthetical Girls, Parenthetical Girls (self-issued)

For 2012, this Portland, Ore. band stretched out on the holiday, with five songs, none under 4 minutes and one, "The Christmas Steps," pushing beyond 12 minutes. The experimental pop sound of the band is still biased toward melancholy, slow-tempo balladry on this collection. "Christmas Mourning" imitates a symphony orchestra behind a lyric of longing and loss at holiday time, "Rejoice! Rejoice!" is an uptempo number that offers an almost joyful lyric, "After the Holidays" is a balladic plea for companionship in the quiet time after the holiday celebrations, "The Salvation Army Bell" is a relationship song cast against the season, and the epic-length "The Christmas Steps" is a dour prose poem set against a portentous backing of synthesizers imitating orchestra and choral sounds. Check it out for yourself at Bandcamp.