Coulton, a humorous singer-songwriter whose past work emphasis has been on geekitude (as in the song "Code Monkey"), joined with Roderick, of the band The Long Winters, to create this power-pop infused left-field look at Christmas for 2012. It's right up my alley, and I suspect it will be the same for a lot of the readership. The geek connection shows up in such songs as "2600," as in the Atari game system the singer wants for Christmas, and "Wikipedia Chanukah" (Hanukkah Alert!), which is simply a dramatic reading of the Wikipedia entry for the holiday over a musical bed. They go for a light Johnny Cash impression on "Christmas In Jail," give a funky bed to "Uncle John," the guy who always ruins Christmas, and describes a nearly ruined Christmas in "Christmas Is Interesting," complete with "Wonderful Life" reference. "The Week Between" describes the attempt to keep the celebratory spirit going between Christmas and New Year's Day, the title song is a series of spoken snippets over a rock backing and a chorus of the title, "Christmas In July" puts a jazzy background behind a desire for gift-giving under a summer sun, and "Christmas Is Wunnerful" doesn't have anything to do with Lawrence Welk, despite the spelling of "Wunnerful"; it's just a repeated refrain over guitars and banjos.
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