A Deadbeat Christmas, Deadbeat Poets (self-issued)

The Deadbeat Poets are a Youngstown, OH-based rock act, and they're also descendants of another Youngstown band, Blue Ash, considered to be among the earliest practitioners of power pop by aficionados of that style. The main track from this 2011 EP is "Christmastime in Painesville," as in the small Ohio town of that name, and it's a solid upbeat jangle-rocking paean to mixed emotions on the holiday. Following through in a similar vein is "Drunk at Midnight Mass," a more hard-rocking ode to a familiar holiday transgression. This is great stuff and I'm sorry it took me so long to unearth it. The EP also has "Christmas Eve," a finger-picked guitar instrumental, and "Father Kenny's Lament," essentially a church-organ overture to "Drunk at Midnight Mass." Downloadable at Amazon and elsewhere.