The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special soundtrack, various artists (Marvel Music)

I have not yet watched this special, owing to the fact that I'm old and I remember the legendary (?) "Star Wars Christmas Special," but I did look into the soundtrack, where I found almost entirely movie soundtrack-type instrumentals except for two excellent pop-rock tunes featuring the Old 97s, who are already on the Christmas tip. They back Kevin Bacon on a solid midtempo "Here it is Christmastime," which they previously released without Kevin, but the winner of this two-horse sweepstakes is "I Don't Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)," a solid jangle-rocker with hilarious lyrics written from the viewpoint of an alien who just landed on Earth and is trying to explain the holiday. This you will want on your holiday playlists. The PowerPop blog notes that the show also includes airings of the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" and Fountains of Wayne's "I Want an Alien For Christmas," though these don't appear on the official album. Oh well, download or add to your streaming queues the two songs reviewed here and be a little better off for it.