March 2015 Archives

This Los Angeles duo comes to us via a British label, performing mellow psychedelic garage pop, at least if these two sides from 2014 give us anything to go on. (The Urban Dictionary definition of the band's name contributes to that impression.) "Round Christmas Time" asks in a dreamy tone, "Why do you always love me more round Christmas time?" And on "The Psychedelic Lights of Christmas," acoustic guitars and jingle bells offer a spacey ode to our electric decorations (though probably not to those aggressive suburban displays set to Trans-Siberian Orchestra). These tunes make for an enjoyable change of pace.

Old-school synthpop rears its head here with the two sides of this Brooklyn band's holiday single for 2014. "It's Different Now" is reminiscent of a ballad by Erasure, a sort of coming-of-age Christmas song. "Cut Down the Tree" is also a ballad about harvesting the holiday decoration, although it's hard to tell because the vocals are mixed kind of low. Still, this will fill that Depeche Mode-sized hole in your holiday playlists.

This 2014 single is old-school reggae music, a few modern production touches but nothing you wouldn't have heard in the 1970s heyday of reggae. The song itself is a plea to "Black Santa" to make sure the needy get what they need for Christmas, not a new concern but always a worthwhile one, especially delivered with this lilting Caribbean rhythm. Good stuff.