The Asylum St. Spankers Present a Christmas Spanking, The Asylum St. Spankers (Bloodshot)

The Spankers are a folky-jazz-blues conglomeration in the tradition of acts like Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks or the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and this holiday album was recorded in 2000 at venues in Houston and Austin, Texas, their stomping grounds. It's mainly stuff you've heard of, with a couple of originals, "12-25-61," a talk-sing about having your birthday be Christmas, and "Red Nosed Reindeer Blues," a clever rendering of the Rudolph tale as a 12-bar blues. They do fun versions of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," "Linus and Lucy" and "Zat You, Santa Claus." A ukulele-led version of "Blue Christmas" leads, appropriately, into "Mele Kalikimaka," and "Silent Night" is rendered as a solo on the musical saw. There are also versions of "Merry Christmas Baby," a nice duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside," plus "The Christmas Song" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve."