Like the previous edition, this is 18 hard rock/punk takes on the holiday for your 2011 delectation and playlisting. Among the familiar songs are the Chosen Ones' "White Christmas," in which a few unscheduled expletives and stimulants appear; The USM makes "The Little Drummer Boy" hammer out a boogie shuffle; The F.U.s' "Father Christmas" is a noisier but otherwise faithful cover of the Kinks; and Al and the Black Cats get thrashy with Elton John's "Step Into Christmas." Most of the tunes heard here are originals, kicking off with Evacuate's "Holidays With You," a fairly mainstream companionship song; the Keefs rail against lengthy Christmas preparations with "Christmas Crock," and Last Seen Laughing cover similar ground in "The Great Christmas Plot"; Cracks and Scars take aim at Santa with "Fake Beard Bastard"; and the Slotcars hijack surf music with their punkish "Surfin' For Christmas." Alcohol gets its holiday due via the Fisticuffs' "Santa Smells Like Whisky," Whisky Business' "A Whiskey Christmas," the Gestalts' "Cookies and Beer," Seek Revenge's "Kegnog," Red Alert's "Having a Drunken Christmas," and Angry Snowmans' "Drinkin' Rum & Egg Nog." That latter song, along with Missile Toads' "Reindeer In the Night," are billed as CD/download bonus tracks, which means if you go for the "splattered candycane vinyl," you'll have to download those last two tracks somehow. For the hard rockers and the punks out there, not to mention the vinyl fetishists (180-gram variety, of course).
Recently in Punk Category
Like the previous edition, this is 18 hard rock/punk takes on the holiday for your 2011 delectation and playlisting. Among the familiar songs are the Chosen Ones' "White Christmas," in which a few unscheduled expletives and stimulants appear; The USM makes "The Little Drummer Boy" hammer out a boogie shuffle; The F.U.s' "Father Christmas" is a noisier but otherwise faithful cover of the Kinks; and Al and the Black Cats get thrashy with Elton John's "Step Into Christmas." Most of the tunes heard here are originals, kicking off with Evacuate's "Holidays With You," a fairly mainstream companionship song; the Keefs rail against lengthy Christmas preparations with "Christmas Crock," and Last Seen Laughing cover similar ground in "The Great Christmas Plot"; Cracks and Scars take aim at Santa with "Fake Beard Bastard"; and the Slotcars hijack surf music with their punkish "Surfin' For Christmas." Alcohol gets its holiday due via the Fisticuffs' "Santa Smells Like Whisky," Whisky Business' "A Whiskey Christmas," the Gestalts' "Cookies and Beer," Seek Revenge's "Kegnog," Red Alert's "Having a Drunken Christmas," and Angry Snowmans' "Drinkin' Rum & Egg Nog." That latter song, along with Missile Toads' "Reindeer In the Night," are billed as CD/download bonus tracks, which means if you go for the "splattered candycane vinyl," you'll have to download those last two tracks somehow. For the hard rockers and the punks out there, not to mention the vinyl fetishists (180-gram variety, of course).
I had no idea there was a Volume 1, but this 2010 sequel is a nicely subversive punk thrash through the holiday -- and a frequently explicit romp as well, so mothers hide your kiddies. The Sheckies go nuts with "Holly Jolly Christmas," but watch out what that guy does with his zipper. The 45 Adapters (do you have to be old like me to appreciate that name?) go anti-commercial with "This Xmas," in which we are exhorted to "don't buy sh-t." Dog Company wishes us a "Merry Christmas, Better New Year" in a punky reggae style, Doomed To Obscurity gets all jangly on "Yuletide Girl, and the Jukebox Zeros aver that "Christmas In the City (Ain't Too Pretty)." The Missile Toads rat out the jolly elf in "Santa's a Boozer," "White Christmas" goes explicit in the hands of the Antibodies, and you can imagine what a "Foul Mouthed Elf" might say in the hands of Nothing But Enemies/SCFF, who render the tune in a style reminiscent of the Buzzcocks. And what can we say about the Violent Society's "Merry Christmas, I [Cee-Lo'ed] Your Snowman?" I deleted the expletive myself, btw. All told, a profane noise spree you'll want to play for your friends. NSFW, but here's the 45 Adapters:The guys who brought us "Christmas at CBGB's" a few years back give us a quick punk attack on the popular Jose Feliciano Christmas song. Go to the YouTube site and they'll tell you how to request the audio file. Check out their website when you get a chance.
This 2010 British punk-pop compilation is actually billed "The Pocket Gods and Friends," as six tunes on here are by that band, including an all-hands-on-deck version of "Auld Lang Syne" that closes the album. (Their song "The Phil Spector Christmas Album" isn't on here, but it is on the 2010 Cherryade compilation, about which more later.) The hosts have a take-no-prisoners view of the holiday, with such titles as "Wanking For Christmas," "It's Christmas and You're Still a C--t," and the angry sound collage "The Queen's Speech Impediment," based on the tradition of the monarch speaking at holiday time. They also thrash through "Silent Night" and take a lo-fi but poppy approach to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Other guests here include The Low Countries, whose "Carry On Christmas" appears to have double meanings in regard to the bishop's activities; "Supernatural Bread" by Eddie's Brother seems to be a request for money in lieu of gifts; Grae J Wall and the Young Trash Lovers lament that "They Cancelled Christmas," then Grae himself returns with a folk ballad "Acadia Avenue," about holiday verities; Martin Bradford Gago renders a straight reading of "We Three Kings"; Uber Dramm offers a noisy admission, "I KIlled My Parents on Christmas Day"; the Electric Pheromones offer an instrumental with the provocative title "All I Got For Christmas Was This Clockwork Orange"; Bert M D'hooge also goes instrumental with "Last of Summer, Burned in Midwinter Fire"; and Kirk performs "Xmas Blues," which is exactly what the title says it is. A fair amount of variety here, but mostly in the lo-fi punk vein.
Stumbled over this lately, a 2008 EP of punk rock Christmas verities, mostly original except for "Good King Wenceslas," short and to the point. This British band has its roots in the original 70s punk revolution, continued into the 1980s and reformed in 2006, grinding out a prolific number of albums and EPs over both stretches of their career. The songs here are mostly snarky and irreverent, in keeping with the style, and there's a nearly obligatory "F*&k Christmas," but everything is well played, and if you need a song with this collection's title or one called "Punk Rock Christmas Song" for your mix discs, here's where you'll turn. For those of you interested in occasion-based music for other holidays, their latest album is Helloween.
This young thrash-punk band from Waldorf, Md., threw together their own ode to the holiday for 2010. They seem to have a bit of ADD, as "Round Up the Christmas Tree" starts out with "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree," segues into "Silent Night," "O Come Emanuel" and back into rocking the tree all in three minutes. "Jingle Bell Stomp" used to have the word "rock" in it before these guys got hold of it, "A Nutty Christmas" thrashes up "The Christmas Song," then "Ode to Nutcracker" actually takes a serious stab at "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" with keyboards and other instruments, then it's back to thrashing "Too Much Eggnog," which is actually that "Grandma" song, and then "Two Front Teeth" is a punked-out version of that popular novelty. When it ends, a bunch of goofing around stretches the song from 2 to 15 minutes. The collection ends with the non-Christmas "When the Sun Comes Up." Never hurts to have a little fresh punk rock for the holidays, am I right?
This comic pop-punk band, probably best known for their hit "1985," seems to be sneaking this out for 2010; there's only the slightest mention of it on their MySpace page. The boys threw together eight familiar holiday songs, heavy on the punk and light on the comedy, extending from such standards as "Frosty the Snowman" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" to rock favorites like the Kinks' "Father Christmas" and the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)" and the nearly obligatory assault on Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." What appears to be 
This Liverpool punk-thrash band put this out there for 2009, and there's not much to say after describing the band -- this goes by at the speed of sound, a minute and a half of cynical sentiment about the holiday. You can listen to it on their MySpace page, and they even link you to a free download from the blog page. So go crazy.
MxPx has long been known as a Christian punk band, though they've recorded a fair number of secular-sounding tunes along the way, including a surprising number of covers. They've also recorded a number of original Christmas songs over time, and for 2009 they've compiled them into an album for easier access. The title song kicks things off in the title spirit, kicks up a notch with "Christmas Day," which has been around for almost a decade, and they don't let up much in tempo for the entire 13-song playlist. Despite the punk readymades, they don't go in for "shocking" lyrics, and in fact their message across the disc is mostly positive and family-friendly. This is not to say they don't have a little fun, as in "Christmas Night of the Living Dead," in which the singer battles zombies, or the "Late Great Snowball Fight of 2006." They do jab at a recent Christmas classic in "So This Is Christmas?," though the message is one of doing the best with what you have. "You're the One I Miss (This Christmas)" is the requisite holiday love song, and "Christmas Party" celebrates the end of the preparations and the beginning of holiday fun. And they add a few lyrics of their own to disc-ender "Auld Lang Syne." All told, this is good fun to listen to all the way through, and it may keep Green Day from cutting a Christmas album anytime soon.
The Damaged Goods label remains a mainstay of the British punk scene, and their artists have had a fairly active Christmas life -- indeed, a number of the label's holiday works have featured on Mistletunes in the past. For those who haven't been following the Damaged saga, this collection, a paid download from the label's site, will bring you up to speed quickly -- and enjoyably. The site has previously reviewed such items as Holly Golightly's "Christmas Tree On Fire," Wild Billy Childish's "Christmas 1979," TV Smith's "Xmas, Bloody Xmas," Goldblade's "City of Christmas Ghosts" featuring Poly Styrene, and Severe's version of "Stop the Cavalry." Add to that the Singing Loins' "Ding Dong Merrily On High," an almost skiffle-like tune that cops from traditional carols; Helen Love's much poppier take on the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)"; another Holly Golightly song, the sweet ballad "Little Stars," done with the Greenhornes; Cuckooland's punked-out "Silver Bells"; Monkhouse's thrashy "Guinness and Wine," necessary holiday beverages for many; and Buff Medways wraps things up with "Merry Christmas Fritz." Thee Headcoatees are billed as providing their version of the Sonics' "Santa Claus," but my copy came with a different song by the band that has X-rated lyrics and is not about Christmas. I've tipped the label.
This NY band's website hasn't been updated in a couple of years, but Kenn Rowell wrote in from England and told me I should have this on my site, and he's right. Don't know if this can actually be acquired at this point, but as long as YouTube has the video, we can all listen to, and watch, this cool 2004 song about a rock 'n roll landmark.
Jimmy Severe writes to let us know that the Punk Rock Advent Calendar has returned to the Intertubes. Last year he posted one new punk rock Christmas song a day for free downloading. It's the same batch of songs, but this year he's added a contest -- click on the correct day of December, listen to the song and click on the Competition link, where you will be asked to spot as many "borrowed" riffs and punk cliches as you can for each song. I didn't see anything about a prize anywhere, but it sounds like it's worth your time to play along. Here's a video of their version of the old Jona Lewie chestnut, "Stop the Cavalry":
From 2003, this tune by British punk group The Fall is a cutup of their song "Proteinprotection" with Christmas-themed lyrics. Having never heard the original song, I can't tell you how it compares, but it's probably similar since both tunes were released in 2003. Nevertheless, the performance, 25 years on, is vintage Fall, including the line "The only good thing to say/Is all the politicians are on holiday."
This vinyl single from 2008 marks a return for X-Ray Spex's lead singer Poly Styrene, who joins this Manchester band for a punk rock duet with just a taste of spaghetti western backing for the holiday. There's a little bit of the approach to Poly's best-known single "Oh Bondage Up Yours" as well. It's a British import, can't download it as far as I know, but you can listen to it on MySpace.
I'm reviewing this unfinished project because I'm operating under the same constraints the rest of you are -- this is a free song a day from Dec. 1-25, 2008, from the label's website. So far, the band has offered thrashed-out versions of Jona Lewie's "Stop the Cavalry," "Blue Christmas," Mud's "Lonely This Christmas," "Little Drummer Boy," "Santa Baby" and the old Jim Reeves chestnut, "An Old Christmas Card." Well done, and the price is certainly right. Update: Add to the above "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S," Gary Glitter's "Another Rock 'n Roll Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Wombling Merry Christmas," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night." And more to come. Further update: Add "Senor Santa Claus," "Frosty the Snowman," "Mary's Boy Child," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to the playlist. Finally: Fill out the playlist with "Merry Christmas Polka," "Silver Bells," "Once In Royal David's City," "When a Child Is Born," "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day," "Mistletoe and Wine," and "White Christmas." Check it out before the link goes dead. Update: Link's dead.
This gang of rockers from London, Ontario, put this Christmas album out in 2006, a fairly irreverent bit of punk rock fun. After kicking off with a medley of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells," they swing into a parody of "Feliz Navidad" called "Police Nabbed My Dad." Originals include "You Ruined Christmas," an ode to the parental admonition slung at unruly kids, and the title song, in which a child tries to catch Santa in the act, and as usual, fails. And leave us not forget "Santa Bring Me Money," where this mercenary Christmas wish goes unfulfilled. An array of high-speed versions of carols fills out the rest of the disc.
Not much to say after I tell you this is a punk rock Christmas album from 2008. These guys are studio players from Cincinnati, Ohio, and this is their first album. There's a dozen tunes here, all rendered with that nice speedy punk beat, but played cleanly. All are classic carols except the original "Christmas Without You," more of a midtempo ballad and a fairly radio-friendly one at that. I found the physical disc at CDBaby, but it's also downloadable from Amazon and iTunes.
Wild Billy is actually better known in his native England as an artist than a musician, one currently going through a bit of critical reappraisal a la Robert Crumb. This is not to downgrade his musical career, though, as he has been around since the late 70s punk upheaval, first in the Pop Rivets and later in such bands as Thee Milkshakes and Thee Headcoats. Out of some 100 albums he's made in that time, this is his first Christmas recording. You garage fans are gonna love this; it's so lo-fi you'll think it was recorded in the 60s rather than in 2007. Most of the songs are original, though there is a cover of The Sonics' "Santa Claus," Link Wray's "Commanche" somehow becomes a holiday song, "Merry Christmas Fritz" throws in bits of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Mary Mary," and "A Quick One" appears to be the Who song with eggnog on the lyrics. The title song was also a single, more punk of the title vintage than garage, concerns his dad kicking in the TV and collapsing into a coma, but not before wishing a merry, eh, Christmas to all. "Knick Knack Paddywhack (Chuck It in the Bin)" concerns the season of commerce, and poverty is examined in "A Poundland Christmas." Play this back to back with The Fleshtones.
Smith was part of The Adverts, the 70s British punk band best known for "Gary Gilmore's Eyes." He brought out this pop-punk single in 2004, now a download from his record label, a nicely cynical take on the holiday with plenty of holiday touches including glockenspiel and acoustic guitars, but it still rocks along nicely. The full download also includes his versions of Adverts hits recorded live, including "Gilmore," "Bored Teenagers" and "The Lord's Prayer."
Can't find any trace of these guys on the Intertubes, but this punk EP from 2004 definitely has its charms. The title song profanely reflects on the rapid approach of the holiday, and there's a radio edit with the bad words bleeped out. The other songs on the disc are similar in approach, but they aren't Christmas-oriented. Found this on CDBaby.com.
This 1980 British-only album trumps the previously-mentioned Ravers by offering an entire album of punk rock Christmas tunes, probably the first such recording, created by The Yobs, better known by their name spelled backwards. It's mostly revved-up versions of Christmas standards, although there are a couple of originals here too, like "Another Christmas," as in "I don't think I could take / Another Christmas Day with yewwwwww." A little tedious all at once, but it has its moments. They also did "Yobs On 45," a single with a Christmas medley, in the fashion of those disco-era "Stars On 45" records, which was on the CD reissue. UPDATE: Randy Anthony's Hip Christmas has been following the Yobs/Boys more closely than I have, noting that they revisited punk Xmas with Christmas Vol. 2 in 1991, with all new songs, and a live album with acoustic versions of some of these songs. Not wanting to pilfer someone else's hard work -- those latter two albums are exceedingly rare -- you are advised to click on over for the rest of the story.
Before Rhino Records became known for its loving reissues of great classic music, its emphasis was more on novelty records like "Fish Heads" and "Stairway to Heaven" done by an all-kazoo orchestra. "Punk Rock Christmas" by The Ravers is solidly in that earlier tradition, being released on a marbleized vinyl EP with a punky "Silent Night" and two non-holiday songs, but it also was a perfect snapshot of 1977 punk rock and record collectors' acquisitiveness: "What do you want for Christmas, little boy?" "I want 10 copies of 'God Save the Queen' with a picture sleeve!" Is it really a novelty if it blends right in with other folks' attempts at punk rock holiday songs? Or if it was arguably the first such song?
Rhino has always been known for impeccable theme compilations, but it started out specializing in novelty records. One of its most enduring novelties, "(It's Gonna Be a) Punk Rock Christmas" by The Ravers, is the linchpin of this 1995 collection of 18 snot-nosed holiday classics, some of which originated in the original punk rock explosion of the late 70s while others are of later vintage. Besides the title classic by the Ravers, artists like Stiff Little Fingers, the Ramones, the Damned (and their Marx Brothers cop, "There Ain't No Sanity Clause"), Mojo Nixon, The Dickies and more are represented here. Some folks paid good money for the import 45s of at least a few of these items when they were new, but they're likely to be all new to a fair number of listeners. One warning: the album is missing the "Parental Advisory" sticker, and it needs one badly. (At the time this was reposted, the link from the album cover to Amazon showed one copy available for $88, but you can at least use the page to listen to samples.)
The Ramones were actually pretty slow to jump on the punk rock Christmas bandwagon; this is from 1989's Brain Drain album and also appeared on the occasional B-side and compilation since, like The Edge of Christmas and Rhino's Punk Rock Xmas, which notes its version is from the UK single. It's fairly self-explanatory; look at the beauty of the season, why can't we stop fighting, and so on. Writer (the late, great) Joey Ramone dedicates it to his girlfriend. An early demo of this turned up on Joey's solo EP.
This bunch of excitable Brits came together in a jam session a while back while working on projects for something called The Big Mix. From that they started this band and they leaped almost immediately into a holiday release for 2004. It's punked-up versions of mostly classic tunes -- "White Christmas," "Deck the Halls," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Jingle Bells," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Auld Lang Syne" -- but they tack on an original, "Ding Dong Ding Dong All Fall Down" and versions of "The Hokey Cokey" and "The Conga," presumably for use at those inevitable New Year's parties. You may want to sneak the punk "Hokey" to the DJ at the next wedding you attend, too. Nice job. Available from the website via PayPal.
Jingle Punx has been here before, and no wonder, since they issue a fresh punk-rock Christmas CD every single year. This is the 2006 edition, and, well, what we've said in previous years pretty much holds for these guys. So we will focus on what makes this disc unique compared to past outings. For starters, they dig into the Beach Boys catalog for "Man With All the Toys," punked up but still musical in that Brian Wilson way. They thrash us a Hanukkah Alert with "Chanuka," take off with a credible version of Run-DMC's "Christmas In Hollis," and recruit Ana Isabel to provide the female vocal on versions of "Santa Baby" and "Baby It's Cold Outside." They provide us one original, the title song, which sounds promising but I had trouble parsing the lyrics. Anyway, check 'em out if you need to punk the house at Christmastime.
Back in 2004 we finally glommed onto these guys, who do punk Christmas albums annually, and sure enough they're back for 2005 with another collection. They start off with "Need a Little Christmas," and add to that "Oh No It's Santa," in which "you better watch out" takes on the seriousness of a Homeland Security alert. They then punk out on "Jingle Bells," "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "Holly Jolly Christmas," "There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and the hidden track (CD only) is a holiday parody on a familiar hard rock tune -- unfortunately, I simply can't place it because the parody lyrics have pushed the real lyrics out of my mind. UPDATE: Steve Orlando of the Punx reminds me that it's a takeoff on "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. And yes, I feel stupid now. Available from the site, some retail stores and iTunes, MSN and Rhapsody. Another winner for the Punx -- visit the site, collect the set, have a lease-breaking party. FURTHER UPDATE: Paul Pearson corrects me: "'Need a Little Christmas' is in fact a song from the Broadway musical 'Mame,' written by Jerry Herman. It's one of my least favorite Broadway musicals - I should know because I was in it twice in high school. Don't ask."
It took me until 2004 to discover these guys, who have punked out the holiday with a new Christmas CD every year since 1998. Coal is this year's model, and while it is mostly standard covers and carols they also throw in a couple of originals, "Mrs. Santa Claus," some well-earned props for the jolly elf's wife, and "You Gotta Get Up," as in what has to happen on the morning of Dec. 25. They swing into punk-country with their version of "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)," take on Phil Spector with "Marshmallow World" and Sir Paul with "Wonderful Christmastime," and they also perform "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Mele Kalikimaka," "I Saw Three Ships," "Little Drummer Boy" and, naturally, "Auld Lang Syne," a reprise from their 1998 CD. Visit the site and check them all out.
They're back for 2007, this punk-hard rock group with the holiday fetish. As they have for a decade now, they've released yet another CD of Christmas goodies. This time around, they've given us only six fresh studio recordings, but they make up for it with nearly 30 live recordings of tunes they've done in the past. They sound more hard rock than punk on the studio cuts, with overtones of the garage sound, especially on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." They cover Ringo Starr's "Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On" and lend a suitable thrash to "Christmastime Is Here," the "Peanuts" gang's song. "O Come All Ye Faithful" harkens back to their older, punkier sound, and they keep a bit of the Latin flavor in "Feliz Navidad" before going double-time on the chorus. Finally, they cover Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero," which must make the old parodist proud. Then they transition into the live show with a parody reading of "A Visit From St. Nicholas," followed by performances of such oldies but goodies as "Mrs. Santa Claus," "Snoopy's Christmas," "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas," and the usual array of classic carols done Jingle Punx style. If you haven't been following the band, this disc is just about all you need. Clicking on the album cover takes you to iTunes, where only the six studio cuts are offered; the live cuts are only on the disc. UPDATE: For 2008 they issued a free single of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with a new singer.
Another pseudonymous Christmas record, this is really the Revillos, who started life as the Rezillos, and if you know who I'm talking about you know what this 1981 record sounds like: a punk-pop girl-singer version of the Phil Spector arrangement of this song. To help you remember what year this record was made, the B-side is "1982 Make a Wish."
Décor your home with artificial Christmas trees that come up with hassle-free set up.
PhotoCardsDirect.com has a selection of Photo Christmas Cards that bring smiles of delight at Christmas time.
Shop Bradford Exchange online for Christmas snow globe collectibles.
For a fun filled festive season buy your Christmas stocking fillers from Find Me A Gift.
Memorable Personalized Holiday Cards. Lots of Styles to Choose From!
Holiday gifts from GiftCards.com.
Personalized Christmas Cards – Stunning selection of custom Christmas cards.
