Christmas, Mona Lisa Twins (Woolgoose)

Mona and Lisa Wagner are indeed twins, Austrian-born and Britain-based, and they love themselves some mid-60s British bands, to the point that they played a two-year residency at Liverpool's iconic Cavern Club and released a live album featuring all 60s tunes, with an emphasis on Beatles covers. I've been getting a lot of notifications for this album recently but it turns out it was released in 2019. Oh well, better late than never. Based on this album, I'd say their sound was less British Invasion and a lot more of a female Everly Brothers, but then the Everlys were a heavy influence on many of the British Invasion bands. The 11 songs are mostly familiar, although I've never encountered "Snow Falls Softly at Night," an antique German carol, or "Walking in the Air," which turns out to have been a top 5 hit in England back in the 1980s and has been covered by everyone from George Winston to Iron Maiden. We should also note the sole original, "All I Want Christmas to Be," penned by Mona, a nice mid-tempo number about holiday verities. Performance-wise, the songs on this album are more 70s pop-rock-folk, although "Walking in the Air" has a "Things We Said Today" feel and their upbeat "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has a rhythm reminiscent of "All My Loving." Given their Beatles roots, you won't be surprised to find covers of "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," the former featuring ukelele and the latter in a calypso rhythm. They do an interesting reimagining of the Bing/Bowie duet "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy," more folk-oriented versions of "Winter Wonderland," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and "Silent Night," and a cover of "Santa Baby" in which they extract the gold-digging parts of the lyrics and substitute requests for favorite musical instruments like "a '54 vintage bass" and a "Gretsch guitar." It fits with their ethos, but you may feel deprived of the sexy subtext. Still, quite a lot to like here.