This guy-gal synth-rock-pop duo formed back in Washington state in 1997 and in recent years have squeezed out some subversive holiday singles. For 2014 they rolled them up into an EP and put it out there for us free from Bandcamp. Wish I'd known before I finished my holiday disc; this kind of observational, snarky material is the kind of stuff I stand holiday watch for every year. "Holiday Hold It" is an admonition to make sure you had your bathroom break before waiting on line for Santa at the mall. "Fake Blood For Christmas" is what the singer is buying online for all her friends this year, and why not, with the holiday season reaching ever backward toward Halloween nowadays. That point gets made again with "Christmas Is In December," a rant more directly about that annual problem, with a sneaky dig at Mariah Carey's ubiquitous holiday hit. "Christmas Makes Me Want To Die" is a humorously over-the-top lament about ever-more-stressful holiday preparations, "Kitty Don't Eat That Tinsel" is about the cat owners' annual holiday worry, and "Peppermint In Everything" celebrates the unofficial holiday candy, with a nod to its salubrious effects when combined with schnapps. Add to this an alternate, less synth-based take on "Holiday Hold It," karaoke versions of a couple other songs and a third "beats" version of "Kitty" and you get an album-length presentation. They say one of these years they're going to get around to a full album, and I can hardly wait.
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