This is Number Nine of this Seattle record label's annual Christmas compilations, which have been responsible for some fine rocking holiday songs over the years, and as usual they bring the goods for 2018. The album is bracketed by competing versions of "T'was the Night Before Christmas," opening with Tom Dyer's driving garage-rock rendition and ending with The Free Wheelin' Joe Ross' Dylanesque acoustic strum-and-preach version. Dyer and the True Olympians' single of "(I'm a) Lonely Little Christmas Tree" and "Christmas Train" is here as well, as is Kat Dyer's "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Super Z Attack Team bring the jazz to an obliquely rendered version of "We 3 Super Kings," The Holiday Bloch-Busters hammer out a distorted "War On Christmas" that calls out the perpetrators of this tired annual meme, Emily Bishton offers a solo guitar and voice version of "Toyland," and Donovan's Brain go 60s folk-psych on "Gray Whiskers (Winter Cats)." To mark the end of the year, Kline's 57 gives us a piss-and-vinegar rocker, "Happy New Year," and the Elf-tones offer a song of the same title that's more moderate in tone and strangely reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot. Toiling Midgets give us a post-punk instrumental, "Snowshoe and Weasel," Richard Stuverud offers "Empty Branches, a holiday breakup ballad, Kaz Murphey drags the kids into the despair with "Christmas Was Yesterday," The Swaggerlies get your heads nodding with the shuffle "All I Want For Christmas (Is To Be Left Alone)," Duane Hibbard invokes that all-purpose holiday excuse "Blame It On the Nog," and Jeff Kelly offers the pensive "Wintertime Is Christmas Time." As usual, Green Monkey brings the variety to your Christmas playlists, and you won't go wrong making this album its own playlist.
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