Another Merry Christmas With Phil and the Osophers, Phil and the Osophers (self-issued)

This Brooklyn trio is out for Christmas 2018 with the third of their series of Christmas EPs. Although the band's origin story seems kind of slapdash, this EP is four sides of solid and well-orchestrated pop-rock music. It almost crosses into the kids' music realm, but the performances are subtle even if the melodies are catchy. "First Thing Christmas Morning" is nicely upbeat and well accented with solo horns in the background, "Playing Santa" is a sweet ballad about giving and receiving featuring a warm clarinet solo, "The Smell of a Christmas Tree" paints a nice sound picture with the help of a flute, and "Santa Pajamas" are what the kids wear so that Santa will come. In roughly 2011 they released an eight-song album, It's Christmas Time, and they also have out an EP, It's Christmas Time Again, from 2015.