Seasonal Favorites Volume 5, various artists (Double Crown)

The Double Crown record label is a small indie that's dedicated to surf music and guitar instrumentals in the vein of the Ventures, they've been around for almost two decades, and they've got an intermittent tradition of compiling albums of Christmas music in their specialized genres, this one being the 2019 edition of the series. As it's a compilation, you may find you've run into one or another of these tunes before, and in this case Double Crown borrowed a bit from the Western Star compilation of a couple of years ago. That accounts for "Cadillac Under My Christmas Tree" by the Bad Detectives," "Santa Was a Rockin'" by the Elfish Presleys (great name, btw), and "Christmas in December" by the Pat Winn Combo. We've covered "Santa! I Know Him!" by the Supraphonics here before as well. That leaves us with Frankie & the Pool Boys' vocal rendition of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)," the Hang-Ten Hangmen's "Christmas Boogaloo" and the Doltones' "Twistin' Reindeer," both punchy and hooky uptempo melodies, the Razorblades' rendition of "Frohliche Weihnachten Uberall," what I'm assuming is a traditional German number, The Ogres' original vocal "Santa's Got It In For Me,"  and Cannibal Mosquitos' "Go! Go! Go! Jingle Bells," a frantic cross between "Blitzkrieg Bop" and the traditional carol. Black Flamingos add a bit of 60s pop movie soundtrack to the mix with their instrumental "A Hint of Nutmeg," Blackball Bandits throw a tiny bit of bluebeat into their "Yuletide Ride," The Incredible Mr. Smith give us an instrumental of the Slade classic "Merry Xmas Everybody," Los Venturas offer "The Balls of Saint Rudolph," no clues as to the derivation from the song, and "Ne Tennes Tusen Julelys" by the Twang-O-Matics. Wrapping things up are "Let's Throw Presents and Burn the Christmas Tree" by Mr. Smith and the Jazz Police, a more sedate number than the title suggests, and the self-explanatory "Auld Lang Surf" by MFC Chicken. If you haven't compiled a bunch of these tunes on your own already like I have, you'll find a lot to enjoy here. Only available via CD ordered directly from the mothership.