December 2024 Archives

This is a swing-blues-jazz combo from Chicago, and they've dropped a holiday album for 2024. Should note that the lead singer is named Solitare Miles, since the Bandcamp page makes it clear. Given the description, you probably don't need a road map for the sound of this collection. Opener "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me" puts the Elvis classic to a congo beat, "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" is in a familiar jazz arrangement, "Mele Kalikimaka" goes with the 30s pop styling of choral vocals with steel guitar, "Blue Christmas" goes country, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is a short rendition in a familiar style, "Silent Night" is a live recording featuring acoustic guitar, "Cowboy White Christmas" is as you'd expect but in a duet with a male vocal, "Auld Lang Syne" features a guest performer on harmonica and "Happy New Year Baby," the Neil Sedaka song, is in a bluesy ballad arrangement. All told very listenable. Also note the band dropped a separate single a couple weeks ago, "Santa's Holidaze," an original by Miles, for those who like to be reminded of the tropics at this time of year.

Last year we belatedly introduced you to this series of alt-rock-pop compilations, and they dropped another for 2024. The series benefits the UK charity Crisis, which battles homelessness, and the artists apparently donated their songs to it. As with the past ones, there are plenty of tunes previously covered in the pages of Mistletunes, along with a bumper crop of songs I haven't previously encountered, for a total of 65 tunes. Their Bandcamp page is where you go to pick it up, and I recommend doing so.

Not familiar with this group, which has a couple singles and an album prior to this 2024 Christmas single, but I really like this, a midtempo wash of synths and guitars evoking a mood, although it's hard to follow the lyrics so you may have trouble envisioning this in a holiday playlist, but trust me, it's a Christmas song. Downloads and streaming available.

Nice alt-rock-pop midtempo ballad from Roe, and this 2024 number appears to be her first Christmas song after a long string of singles and one album. Check it out, downloads and streaming wherever you normally get them.

Here's an old-school showstopper soul ballad from this Chicago band now working from Los Angeles and made available by a Cambridge UK record label. This 2024 release throws down thanks to Bella's vocals but also due to a strong band performance, with lyrics calling for the peace, love and understanding that comes on Christmas eve. Streaming available but downloads not on Amazon, and there's a vinyl single that includes the non-holiday dance floor classic "Soul Clap." While streaming and vinyl are available on Amazon, the Bandcamp page lets you download both sides and order the vinyl as well. (There's a different Bella Brown making records; make sure your searches include the whole band name.)

Another new artist pops up with a double-sided Christmas single. These folks, as you might guess, are a modern ska band, though not of the amped-up methedrine tempo school of music. The A-side, "Behind Every Santa, There's a Mrs. Claus" is a fine leisurely ode to the jolly elf's better half, and "Slay Belles" is a reggae toasting number with a feminist overlay. Cool stuff to download, stream, and add to your playlists.

These guys are pretty new, having dropped an album earlier in 2024 and now adding a Christmas single to the discography. This is a medium tempo alt-rock holiday lament and it's a pretty compelling number to add to your Christmas playlists. Downloads and streaming everywhere.

I'm not your usual folkie fan but I always liked this song, which I first heard in a version by Tara MacLean on an alt-rock-folk compilation and has been done by country artists like Selah and Emmylou Harris. This 2024 version features Americana artists Jaimee Harris, known for her affiliation with Mary Gauthier, and Tyler and Helm, the latter of whom is the daughter of Levon Helm of the Band and singer-songwriter Libby Titus. Solid performance on the folky side, downloads and streaming everywhere.

Can't seem to find any information about this artist, but given the label attribution I'm going to guess this person is European. This 2024 single is very cool, 80s-90s R'nB flavored music and solid soprano singing. Downloads and streaming wherever you get your music. While tracking this down I found Ginge (with Zephyr) performing "Deck the Halls," another 2024 single but it appears to only be available on Apple Music. UPDATE: Reader Roman Mitz confirms that Ginge is from Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Weirdly, the Amazon page for this song tells a story about Gary Usher, the 1960s producer who worked with Brian Wilson and other surf bands, having cut an album with session musicians under this band name. Which is probably true, but irrelevant to this song. A little more research reveals this is by a modern-day band from Lowell, MA, and this 2024 single is a nice bit of grungy alt-rock, decently produced with a solid melody and cool lyrics about Santa distracting himself with online gaming and ignoring Mrs. Claus. Visit them at Bandcamp or click the cover to grab it from Amazon.

Haven't heard of this band before, but man I'm sorry I'm just encountering this after the Mistletunes mix is done. This is fabulous 70s funk-soul for your Christmas party dance floor. Flip side is an instrumental of the song. Download or stream it everywhere.

The formerly middle school all-girl punk band (gotta be graduating high school by now) previously had a Christmas single and now they're back with this cover of the evergreen rock classic. No Amazon link, apparently this is an Apple Music exclusive for 2024.

We've had this more than aptly named band on the site with previous holiday tunes, and they're back for 2024 with this crunchy rocker that will make you think of 60s girl groups backed by Cheap Trick. Downloads and streaming everywhere. 

These long-running Laurel Canyon acolytes dropped a slow-motion holiday ballad for 2024 about reconciling with relatives on the holiday. Nice work. They previously helped out on one of the Killers' Christmas songs. Downloads and streaming as usual.

Back in 2018 I belatedly discovered these guys, a New York band that had been dropping kilotons of original Christmas music in a power pop-retro 60s vein for several years by then. Turns out they've not let up and I've neglected this development. This is the 2024 installment in their ongoing project and it's more of the same, genre-wise, although I should note that sharp-eared listeners will note a fair amount of, shall we say, repurposed material among these tunes. One should not lump these guys in with the growing trend toward AI-aided offerings, however, as these tunes stand up pretty well to the best stuff by artists in the same genres. "Christmastime Is Everywhere Tonight" throws in some mellotron to give this a kind of Revolver-esque sheen, "Remembering Christmas" is a nice crunchy rocker, as is "Xmas the Spot," and "Jacob Marley Mr Scrooge" does a credible recapping of the plot of the Dickens classic in a sinister slow-tempo arrangement. "Last Call For Christmas" is a nice midtempo ode to closing time on Christmas Eve, " Christmas Bomb" and "Ring Ring Ring" are catchy power pop, "Dirty Xmas" is a poppy report of a low-budget holiday, "O'Merry, O'Malley, O'Christmas" is what happens when The Records try to record a holiday-themed Irish drinking song, and "One More Christmas" wraps things up with an around-the-hearth rocker. I should note other titles we've missed over the years like Just Add Xmas, Make Room For Christmas, Aaahh! Real Christmas, and Hand Claps For Christmas. There are also a bunch of singles but I haven't had time to determine whether any of them were included on the albums. And I'll note that despite this prodigious holiday output, they've also recorded albums of non-holiday fare as well. Click the cover to get the new one from Amazon.

The Philadelphia comedy troupe normally drops an album just ahead of Christmas every year; last year it was more of an EP and for 2024 it's just a single, which is underlined by the cover art at right. But it's a good one; "Reindeer Game" is a solid holiday takeoff on Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," and the flip side, "Last Christmas (I Told You I Loved You)," appears to be an original with no relationship to Wham; it's a semi-grungy sounding indie-rocker that folks with that particular taste might enjoy. Get it from their Bandcamp page.

Back again for 2024 are our friends Dead Gwynne, whose whole existence appears to be based upon cutting an annual Christmas song that they distribute freely from their website. This year's offering is an angular and aggressive guitar-led semi-rap that's a little less festive sounding but kind of fun for all that. The website offers this and all their previous 32 songs free of charge.

I typically write a letter to the readership of this fine music blog when we're close to the holiday, and this is it. The most recent past holidays I've reflected on my advancing age and my growing distance from what the "youngsters" consider "hep," but I'm way over that now. I'm just happy to still be at this and hope that you folks are getting something here you're not getting anywhere else. If nothing else, doing the blog informs my annual Christmas mix and that's all that's really necessary as far as I'm concerned. Whatever holidays matter most to you at this time of year, I hope you're enjoying them, and if I have any advice, make an effort to enjoy them all. Insert Amazon plugola here. Oh, and here's your annual Christmas gift.

Earlier in 2024, this Los Angeles band dropped a single, "(You Broke My Heart) On Christmas Eve," with a note that it was part of this EP, which finally dropped today. The other songs are covers; a noisy take on "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," a grungy version of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)," and probably the first cover I've heard of Cher's "DJ Play a Christmas Song," which is in the style of the other songs here. Downloads and streaming everywhere, and a CD version is available from their label.

This is George's second single this year, a little more uptempo with a bit of ukulele and trumpet, and the lyric stating how he'd like to marry Mary for a merry Christmas lets us know he's having a lot of fun with this. There are serious compositional chops involved with this number, which has all the earmarks of a late 60s top 40 single. You might want to rush this into your playlists; streaming and downloads in all the usual places.

Last year George dropped a New Year's single which was a pretty cool piece of power pop. For 2024, he's dropped two separate Christmas singles. This one is a poppy ballad and kind of sappy, though there's a possibility he's just having us listeners on, given the overlay of familiar carols that starts about two-thirds of the way in. Check it out for yourself, streaming and downloads everywhere.

Yes, it's in the sidebar with all the other ones; alphabetically, it's near the top. Enjoy it, please. Meanwhile, one more bit of plugola: please start your Amazon shopping trips from a live link on this site, as affilate fees keep this website going.

Don't know anything about these guys, but here's yet another semi-jaundiced pop-punk take on Christmas ennui for 2024. It's cool and will definitely brighten up your playlists. Streaming and downloads from all the usual suspects.

Bone Sound Inc. has been dropping Christmas compilations since 2020, and this is the one for 2024. The concept is basically indie artists doing Christmas songs, kicking off with Boeckner doing a grungy "Blue Christmas," Electric Santa playing with the tempo concept of the title with a thrashy "Merry Fast/Slow Christmas," Serious Bob doing an exaggeratedly slow version of "O Christmas Tree," and Boy Brooks taking a slightly more uptempo approach to "O Holy Night." Julian Lynch goes practically motionless in the atmospheric take on "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Heavenly Peace offers "Slow Hanukkah," a version of "O Hanukkah," brend_zombley takes on "Angels We Have Heard on High" in which the melody is slowly drowned out by white noise, and Fire-Toolz wraps things up with "Shaktipat w/The Lord," more grungy synth noises. This is something for fairly specific tastes, so tread lightly. Check it out on Bandcamp.

Not satisfied with a decade's worth of Christmas goodies, members of Vista Blue created this side project to do songs related only to the movie "A Christmas Story." For 2024 their song regards the bandit from Ralphie's dreams that he dispatches with the famous air rifle. As with other songs by this group, the specificity to the movie might not be what you want for a Christmas playlist -- or it might just be what you're looking for. Downloads and streaming everywhere, and you can catch up with the whole discography at Bandcamp.

This Nashville punk band has been making Christmas songs for 10 years, and for 2024 they dropped this EP featuring the Ramones-like "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter," "When the Christmas Tree is All Aglow," and the title song, based on the quote from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Weirldly, the version on most services drops "I'm Gonna Be Warm"; to get all three you must go to Bandcamp.

Not satisfied with having dropped three Christmas albums in three years, including 2024, the charity project of the Philadelphia Eagles just rushed out this single, which is pretty much what you would expect given who's involved. Nevertheless, completists must hurry to include this in their collections. Downloads and streaming everywhere, natch.

I don't have any prior experience with this group, but I do know they dropped this EP of five covers for 2024. Their sound is a kind of alt-rock Americana, somewhere in that realm where the Lumineers and Avett Brothers do business, and their takes on these songs don't make much effort to follow the originals, which is not a bad thing, although avid Beatles fans might not find their take on "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to be a satisfying listening experience. Nevertheless, this is a solid effort that you should consider for your playlists. The other songs are Bon Iver's "Holocene," Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal," Joni Mitchell's "River" and Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here." It's a different sound, but I like it. Downloads and streaming in the usual places.

I just heard about this Philadelphia band's cover of Counting Crows' "A Long December," which apparently only dropped two days before Christmas 2023. I discovered that this is just the latest in an ongoing series for this band, which has previously dropped new original Christmas songs in each of the last four years and is compiling them under the title For the Holidays. All these tunes are pensive mid-tempo indie-rock numbers and each of the originals is a gem.They include "Is It Snowing, Wherever You Are?," the lengthy "Christmas Lullaby," "Peace In Winter" and "Love Lives In Our Hearts, At Christmastime." Nice work, and 100 percent of the earnings from this go to Broad Street Ministry, which provides food and clothing to Philadelphia's homeless. Should make a note to check back each year for as long as this goes on. Visit them on Bandcamp. UPDATE: This year's additional song is a doleful original holiday ballad, "Old Time Christmas."

World News is a young band from London with that solid alt-rock sound, and for 2024 they dropped this upbeat holiday anthem that reminds me a bit of Echo and the Bunnymen. Oddly, their Bandcamp page lists this as being from 2011, and Spotify has it as 2021, but all their other releases have dates no older than 2023, so I feel safe in touting this as new. Unable to find it on Amazon, but it's on Apple too.

One never knows what to expect from Gaga, which is probably intentional, given her range across pop, rock, and cabaret music, along with her occasional forays into acting. For 2024 she dropped this solid rock version of the popular Santa song that has bluesy roots and will definitely get the room dancing, assuming anyone still does that anymore. Download or stream it. You may recall a couple previous Christmas cuts of hers.

These folks are from somewhere in Ohio and they have connections to fabled cult prog-rock group Crack the Sky. For 2024 they dropped this very CTS-adjacent 70s rocker about disappointing holiday behavior, which they manage to make sound fun. Streaming and downloads available for this.

This guy scaled the heights of rock stardom as lead singer for Journey, but after some health problems that affected his singing, his band ousted him in favor of a young soundalike singer. In recent years he resumed performing as a solo artist, and now for 2021 he dropped this short album of six Christmas pop standards and two New Year's chestnuts that is absolutely non-rock. I'm only covering this as a warning, since many folks might glom onto this thinking they're going to get vintage Journey sounds and they're not; this is strictly old-school jazz-pop. I really don't think Steve's voice is suited for this sort of singing, given that he sounds like an older, shopworn version of his younger self on this material. I imagine his fans will be happy with this, but I think they'd be happier with a more rock-oriented program, and I think he'd sound a lot better with that sort of material. UPDATE: Reissued in 2024 with five additional tracks.

And here's another AI-created collection of Christmas songs with risque, hilarious lyrics for 2024. Almost Vinyl is similar to Relatable Grooves, although in this case the "artist" is identified as American and the songs here aren't only Motown takeoffs, although there are a couple; the rest are various strains of 50s and 60s pop, soul and country styles, and not all the songs are tagged explicit, though one that isn't, "Christmas Pussy," should be. All the songs here are credited to Tristan Watering; I found a LinkedIn profile stating he's from Concord, NC, but there are no posts there. So, straight to the song titles, in addition to the one above: "It's Too Fucking Early For Christmas," "Harvey the Chronically Depressed Snowman," "Drivin' Around With a Christmas Tree," "Mom Saw Jesus in Her Fruitcake," "Holiday Hours," "Santa's Not Real (You Little Shit)," "What the Fuck Is Snow (I'm Gonna Die)," "Surviving the Mall Before Christmas," "Socks," "A Chilly Predicament," "Christmas With My Second Family," "Pretending I Understand Hanukkah," and "Santa Dropped His Sack on a Kid." Almost Vinyl has a Bandcamp page (hometown North Carolina) where you can find dozens more non-Christmas tunes, or you can download or stream from the usual sources.

Before I start raving about the hilarity of all this, please note that YouTube tags this music as being created at least in part through artificial means. Relatable Grooves apparently is domiciled in Belgium, and the descriptions on YouTube of these tunes is completely fictional, claiming the 10 tunes here are rare unreleased Motown classics by nonexistent singers. There's no other information available about this 2024 offering, which doesn't surprise me; Spotify is full of "artists" without any biographical information. Anyway, whatever AI they used to create this album must have gorged itself on the entire Motown oeuvre, because these are convincing ripoffs. And the lyrics are hilarious; all songs are credited to one Ben Geudens, who has a LinkedIn profile that states he's from Belgium but no photo, bio or posts, and a fairly active X account that retweets posts in the original Dutch and discusses AI at a professional level, but shares characteristics with fake accounts. But AI or not, you're going to get some laughs out of songs like "Merry Cringemas, Baby," "You're Too Fat (To Dress Up As Santa)," "Can't Afford No Damn Presents," "Fightin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Let's Talk Politics at Christmas Dinner," "Put My Eggnog In Yo' Mouth," "This Christmas Turkey Sucks," "Kissed Grandma On the Mouth (Tastes Like Raisins)," "Fuck These Christmas Lights," and "I Didn't Wanna Be a Christmas Singer." Explicit tags on all per iTunes. Downloads and streaming in all the usual places; Ben or whoever the creator is might want to invest in a vinyl pressing for this.

Punky's a former member of the 70s pop-metal band Angel, and for 2024 he's dropped this decidedly non-metal pop rocker in the romantic come-on genre. It's pretty catchy in a 70s Top 40 kind of way, and since the young indie kids were trending in that direction, at least in recent years, you might want to give this a spin. Downloads and streaming everywhere.

We've previously noted that with the growth of YouTube and social media, there's been a simultaneous collapse in the number of released Christmas novelty records even as the internet appears to be swarmed with entries in the field. "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon has personified this, with his numerous previous attempts at Christmas novelties, in league with celebrities old and new. For 2024, he's gathered up most of his past entries in the field and added some new recordings for an album that's available on vinyl (including peppermint splatter) as well as the usual downloads and streaming. No doubt the celebrity involvement influenced the major label's interest in releasing this. So "It Was a... (Masked Christmas)" with Ariana Grande, "Wrap Me Up" with Meghan Trainor, and "Almost Too Early For Christmas" with Dolly Parton are all here. Add to that a close harmony "Holiday" with the Jonas Brothers, a new take on Rudolph with the Roots called "Hey Rudy," Justin Timberlake's duet "You'll Be There," a Weird Al "New Year's Eve Polka," "One Glove" with Will Ferrell, "Merry Happy Christmas" with Chelsea Handler, and "Hallmark Movie" with Cara Delevingne. Add to that some Jimmy solo songs like "Christmas Ding Dong," "How You Know It's Christmastime," "Chipmunks & Chestnuts," "Coquito," "Weird Cousin," and "Thanksgiving Eve," the latter of which trots out his Bob Dylan impression. All told, this is pretty listenable from end to end, especially if you're into celebrity star turns, although there's an awful lot of auto-tune employed on Jimmy's voice. Nevertheless, there will certainly be playlist candidates for every taste.

It's titled like an EP, but this 2024 offering from this long-running post-punk British band is just two songs. "Now and Laughter" isn't overtly Christmas, but it takes a metaphysical view of the season's verities. Flip side "Out From Under" is another example of this group's funky oeuvre, though not holiday-oriented. Streaming and downloads from the usual suspects.

This former child actor from Canada branched out into hip-hop several years ago, and for 2024 dropped this cool, very commercial midtempo ode to someone who's clearly good and bad for the singer. Check it out, on streaming or via download.

I'm not all that familiar with Victoria Monet, I admit, but she dropped a hip-hop album called Jaguar II back in 2023, followed up with a deluxe release as is the current fashion for those who have the fan base to support such a move, and now in 2024 has dropped an orchestral instrumental version of the same album heavily medleyed with familiar Christmas songs. The Christmas tunes aren't explicitly called out in the playlist (except "I'm the One (Jingle Bells)"), but trust me, they're all over this, when they're not using themes from the original Jaguar II album. The song titles are essentially derived from the original album's songs, like "It's a Celebration Every Time It Snows," "Cadillac Christmas," "How Does It Make You Feel," "On My Mama (Christmas Medley)," "Stop (Askin' Me 4Gifts)," "Christmas in Hollywood," and "Merry Christmas Dan." If R'nB flavored instrumentals that only occasionally touch on the holiday is your jam, then I guess this is for you. Downloads and streaming available.

Sarah's on record with past Christmas releases, including two full albums, but for 2024 she offers this midtempo pop-rocker in which she celebrates the peace and harmony parts of the holiday with the help of students from her Canadian music school. Previously released in 2012 on a limited basis, but it's now up for downloads and streaming everywhere.

The video for this suggests an attempt at placement in a Target commercial, but we're not offended any longer by people trying to monetize their work. This Elvis, as opposed to the others, has been on "The Masked Singer," and now for 2024 has this soul/pop hybrid about the sights and sounds of the holiday. Streaming and downloads in the usual places.

Anthony has played with people like Spin Doctors and Lenny Kravitz, while the late Paul Nelson is a classic rock/blues guy who worked with Johhny Winter and Buddy Guy. The two collaborated on this cool traditional hard rock/blues number just before Nelson's passing, and now it's out for 2024. Lyrics self-explanatory, natch. Streaming and download available.

Yes, it's her, the teen singer of the late 80s who toured shopping malls with her cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now." Well, all those mall denizens (and their daughters) remember her, she's got more than 100 million streams of her hit singles. But she's still with us after all these years, and for 2024 she's got this pretty heartfelt holiday-themed piano/strings pop ballad about being watched over by the angel at the top of the Christmas tree. Nice stuff, streaming and downloads available. Should note that Tiffany has bombed the music services with singles this year, including a couple reissues/re-recordings of her original hit single and another unrelated ballad called just "Angels."

So much of the internet is oriented toward scamming users (and webmasters) that I apply a cargo ship's worth of skepticism to incoming requests for link-sharing and other such stuff. But I was in a good mood when this request arrived, and so I'm going to note that FeedSpot has made Mistletunes one of the Top 50 Christmas Blogs on the World Wide Web. I noted that we're in the top 10, at least via the link I was provided, and a couple of other Christmas blogs familiar to me are there too. So if you're interested in seeing the company we're sharing, hop on over to FeedSpot and find out. Meanwhile, a reminder that we're an Amazon affiliate and starting your shopping trips from a link here helps keep us on the web. Thanks as usual.

Once again, the Italian music blog Memoria Polaroid has compiled a selection of indie rock bands worldwide contributing holiday-oriented songs. As you might imagine, there are a fair number of Italian bands singing in their native language, but about half these songs are in English, starting with PoPo's cover of Low's "Just Like Christmas," a crunchy rendition possibly inspired by Jesus and Mary Chain. The Ian Fays offer "Set the Table," a tune that seems to suggest someone long gone is being asked to set the holiday table. Shiva Bakta perform "Christmas Quarantine," the premise of which may seem old hat at this point but don't worry, the next American administration seems poised to start a bird flu pandemic. Her Skin does "I'll Be Happy Anyways," a cool pop tune about lost love on the holiday, Waving Blue featuring Matilde gives us "See You at the Club for Christmas," a fairly doomy folk strum rather than the dance tune you might expect, and Neucloud has "In Colder Times," a midtempo indie rocker with just a little David Lynch overlaid on it. Altre di has "No Guest List," a semi-rockabilly flavored raver that doesn't appear to have a holiday connection, and the same can be said for Casta's cover of the Cardigans' "My Favorite Game" and Heron King's version of the Bobby Charles song "I Must Be In a Good Place Now." Danxgerous (no typo) does Joni Mitchell's "River" with guitar and celeste, Georgia, Georgia performs "Good Luck Babe" and AGA gives us a tone poem, "Open in the Eyes." Among the Italian language offerings, Setti's "Star" is a nice 60s folk rock opener, Deine Mutti goes lo-fi on "Voglio dormire fino a Natale," Olymipa Mare sings a folky "Giallo," Bauf introduces some hip-hop elements on "L'infanzia di Maria," and Baseball Gregg performs "stefania." Get it from Bandcamp as always, and this year's charity being supported by the collection is the non-governmental organization Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

The Milk Carton Kids are a folk duo many have compared to Simon and Garfunkel, and indeed their mastery of the folk music duo format recalls that famous act. For 2024 they have given us this collection of 10 classic carols, all of which are very earnestly performed as a folk group would perform them. As such, there are no real surprises here, but for those of you with a sweet tooth for authentic folk music, please have at it. Appears to be only available for streaming and download, but as this is distributed by a major label I would expect physical media to turn up for this at some point.

This Austin, TX band offers for 2024 a cool lo-fi slow-boiling indie-pop ballad in which the singer requests a holiday gift. Not what you'd expect to hear from an Austin band, but that just adds to the fun. A look at their Bandcamp page reveals previous Christmas tunes, 2022's "Christmas Tree" and 2021's "London Town (Happy Holidays). Or you can download from Amazon by clicking the cover. Streaming's available too. 

Some of you might remember El Vez, the Hispanic Elvis impersonator, from his Merry Mex-Mas album. He's kept performing all these years and for 2024 he's back with this cool pop-rockabilly song. I'm uncertain as to whether this is new, however, as he's dropped several other singles this year that go back to a 2002 album, Sno-Way José. These include versions of "Little Drummer Boy," "La Piñata," "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday," and an original "En El Barrio at Christmas Time," in the same Elvis style, the latter being a pastiche of popular carols overlaid with some solid rock guitar soloing. The original album also included "Cool Yule" and "The Dreydel Song," plus several live performances of "Blue Christmas," "Brown Christmas," "Lordy Miss Lupey" (a takeoff on "Little Latin Lupe Lu"), Stooges takeoff "Now I Want to Be Santa Claus," and "Hey Charlie, I'm Brown." At the moment, that full album is strictly from Discogs-land and the above-mentioned singles are all that's available, although I'll note that my research indicates not all of these songs are available on all platforms. Merry Mex-Mas, however, is up everywhere for streaming and downloads.

I've only heard a few songs by this modern singing group but I've liked what I've heard. For 2024, they resurrect the Marvin Gaye semi-classic (as classic as it could be considering it wasn't released back in the day when it was recorded). Their version is close to the original arrangement with their unique voices giving it a fine performance. Downloads and streaming, although I'm told there's vinyl too.

Last year, this long-running band arose from its slumber to drop the title song from this 2024 collection. This year they expand it into an EP featuring a new version of the title song with a guest vocal from Sarah McLachlan, the funky semi-rap "Riding the Sleigh," a serviceable cover of Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and the not particularly holiday-oriented "Clockwork '24." Your favorite outlets should have the downloads and streaming versions.

From Down Under, Melbourne to be precise, this 70s-style funk band recently broke into the Northern Hemisphere via London and the EU, and for 2024 they dropped an EP with three original tunes: the soulful ballad title tune, the uptempo dance number "Wrapt in a Beau," and funky instrumental "The Bells of Holly Hill." Very cool. Downloads and streaming in all the usual places.

Elizabeth's story started with her composing a Christmas song for a reality show about a decade ago, which led her into a career as a Christmas musical artist. For 2024, she's back with an EP in which she repurposes her original semi-hit "A Christmas Song" into  "A (Metal) Christmas Song," in which the arrangement is salted with a few heavy metal readymades, but most listeners will probably only notice the typical thud-thud tempo of 70s metal being superimposed on what remains a good holiday pop song. Two new originals, "The Season Was Made For Us," with her kid contributing vocals, and "The Thanksgiving Song" extend her repertoire with modern pop sounds. She rounds things out with two covers, a rocking "Jingle Bells" in an original arrangement, and a moderately bombastic take on "Mary Did You Know." This will suit her fans, and the rest of us will likely find a playlist candidate or two here. Downloads and streaming. 

These guys are all over this site's archives going back many years with their irreverent punk-thrash take on Christmas tunes. For 2024, they went there, even bringing on a female vocalist to do justice to the inescapable Mariah Carey hit. Get it from Bandcamp, and enjoy yourselves.

Back in 2017 we had an EP from these guys, who are a mostly instrumental band specializing in the Hawaiian style with a bit of Americana thrown in. They're back in 2024 with a full album, which is the EP expanded with six live recordings of "O Christmas Tree," "Sleigh Ride," "Christmas Island," "Let It Snow," "Feliz Navidad," and "Mele Kalikimaka." Added to the digital version is a previously released single of "This Christmas." Vinyl is available, as are streaming and downloads; those who already have the original release can just add tracks 7 to 13 via download, as those constitute the "Vol. 2" of the title.

Gaspard is a French singer with some musical roots in the UK R'nB scene, and for 2024 he drops a Christmas album with mostly original tunes and a couple of covers. Several of these were previously released, by the way. The sound is somewhere between old-school soul and pop, depending on the tune. He duets with Nicole Atkins on "Perfect Christmas Song," a solid pop-rocker, opens the collection strongly with "Home For Christmas," offers a midtempo "Winter Night," and covers "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" competently though no better. "Wishing You a Merry Christmas" is another duet with Aurélie Saada, "Next Train to Memory Lane" is a midtempo pop ballad, and "Xmas & the 3 Wise Men" hovers somewhere between Tenacious D and the "Big Bang Theory" fake band Footprints on the Moon, unintentionally so I'd imagine. "(C'mon Baby) It's Christmas Time!" is a cool rocker in a pop-rockabilly vein, the cover of "White Christmas" is a crooner arrangement with a mock martial beat backing the ballad tempo, and "Christmas Prayer" is another ballad whose sentiment is as advertised by the title. Some solid original songs here, with the Nicole Atkins duet being the class of the collection, and you can download and stream it wherever you get music. While tracking this down, I discovered Gaspard is quite the Christmas music fan, with a 2017 EP Wishing You a Merry Christmas that oddly doesn't include the song of that title, but features two songs not on the current album, "Last Christmas" and "New Year's Eve," a 2016 EP I Can't Believe It's Christmas (and Other Xmas Songs) featuring the title song, a duet with Eli "Paperboy" Reed on "Christmas Time Again," plus covers of "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," and the single "Christmas Is Back In Town," a fairly cool number dating back to 2015. 

New Jersey singer-songwriter Atkins joined with Minneapolis favorite son Morgan for this solid 2024 pop ballad about the season they co-wrote along with Kanene Pipkin of Lone Bellow. Sweet sounds topped off by a soulful guitar solo. Apparently this was commissioned for a Hallmark movie, though I don't know which one. Downloads and streaming everywhere. Oh, this isn't Nicole's only holiday effort this year either; she joins in with Gaspard Royant on his new album. Those with long memories may recall Nicole's previous take on "Blue Christmas," and I just discovered she co-wrote and later covered J.D. MacPherson's "Every Single Christmas" back in 2020. So check her out, OK?

Well, that's a blast of holiday rock I wasn't expecting. Parker Woodland is from Austin, TX (ya think?) and is a three-piece band in which nobody is named after the band, and in less than two minutes you'll forget there's any such person as Mariah Carey. The lyrics are a local shout-out to their home town and the music is solid upbeat roots rock 'n roll. Downloads and streaming, natch.

Fika Recordings is an alt-pop-rock label based in London, and for 2024 they've brought us this album by a Norwegian supergroup. Yes, that's a thing. Sunturns features members of such groups as Making Marks, The Little Hands of Asphalt, Mildfire, Flight Mode and Elva. Soundwise, it goes from power pop to alt-rock to chamber pop over its 10 original selections, instrumentally speaking, with vocals that might remind you of 60s and 70s pop groups from the Cowsills to Abba. Lyrically, well, they're from near, or maybe above, the Arctic Circle, so we get a lot of ambivalent feelings about the holiday season, starting with "New Snow," in which the foreboding begins; "Crash Course Christmas," in which the singer, faced with visitors, is having to put on his holiday game face; "Magnetic Field," in which someone is rebuked for bad behavior; "I Do," a ballad that starts ahead of the winter solstice and tries to find what little light is left at that time of year; "First Winter," an ode to a small child on the occasion of the holiday season; "Back in Town," about a Christmas return to a place you lived in the past; "Turtle Neck," a slightly loopy pop-rocker about asking for the title-described shirt as a gift; "Colibri Heart" offers a more upbeat holiday view even in the face of rainy weather rather than snow; "The Day Before the Day," a contemplative Christmas Eve ballad; and "This Christmas/Next Christmas," about trying to satisfy one's parents holiday hopes while dealing with their own family's holiday needs. This last one is apparently based on a Norwegian children's show, according to the press release. Downloads and streaming available, but the Bandcamp page is where you can get vinyl. And yes, there is a Christmas I and Christmas II available, more of the same, previously released in 2011 and 2015.

We previously had these guys on the site for a killer "Tex-Mex" Christmas album, and they're back in 2024 with this single, which has an early Beach Boys/surf feeling; it wouldn't be out of place on a Jan & Dean album. Killer tune, available for download or streaming wherever you do these things.

We glommed onto this indie Pittsburgh power-pop artist last year, and for 2024 they're back with this rocking complaint about this evergreen holiday ritual. Get it from their Bandcamp page.

The classic English Christmas tune by Roy Wood's Wizzard gets a pop-punk rendition for 2024 by this popular band. The Dollyrots have a long history of Christmas tunes, and they're reissuing their Christmas album on CD with this cut included. Check them out on Bandcamp, as the updated album and this song haven't yet migrated to streaming.

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Discovering Sugar World's planned A Sugar Christmas 2 caused me to think there must be a number one edition, and so there is, and it dropped in 2020. More crunchy lo-fi indie pop, featuring four covers: Low's "Just Like Christmas," Sally Shapiro's "Anorak Christmas," the classic "Blue Christmas," and the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling." Downloads and streaming, or visit Bandcamp.

Sugar World is a four-piece band from Los Angeles, and for 2024 they dropped this lovely lo-fi midtempo indie rock-pop ballad, a crunchy sound backing a sad tale of holiday ennui. Just for fun they flip the lyrics toward the end so everyone can be equally sad and reflective. This is part of an EP, A Sugar Christmas 2, but that's not dropping until Dec. 23, so I'm posting this now.  Downloads and streaming everywhere, or visit Bandcamp.

Earlier we mentioned the Richard Peterson album from Green Monkey as being atypical for the label; well, not to worry, they also have this guy doing a 70s rock style Christmas tune for 2024. It's cool and available everywhere to download or stream.

The Bongo Boy label has a long-running album series of indie artists performing Christmas songs, as you might gather from the volume number above. For 2024 they're back, starting with Fans Of Jimmy Century, who check in with three new tunes, the power-poppy "Here Comes Christmas," a cover of "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" that's straight out of showtunes-ville, and "Santa Jamaica (Jolly Old St. Nicholas)," a not-entirely-convincing islands-influenced take on the carol. The New Bardots, a band that's figured on several previous entries in the series, provide us with new original "Pocket Full of Christmas," a cool rocker that narrates the holiday while swinging widely among various secular and religious holiday archetypes. "Christmas Eyes" by Boys 'N Barry with Wendy Tuttle is a 70s hit radio pop number about the child's-eye view of the holiday, Clark Ford and Underground Treehouse offer the pop ballad "I Remember Christmas With You," fairly self-explanatory, and Willow Layne and Countryside Studios perform "Just Me and You, December," which you will not be surprised to hear is a straight modern country lament, as is their other tune "St. Nick On Aisle Six," as well as Paula Boggs Band's banjo-led "Mistletoe & Shiny Guitars." Denise Fink and Roselyn Brinkman offer a classical flute and harp take on "Clair de Noel," which is mainly "Clair de Lune" with some carols mashed into it, and Simonne Draper's "Finesca" is another classically influenced instrumental. Steve Andrews also gets two entries on this collection, "Climb Through a Rainbow" and "We Can Sing Together," pop-rockers that don't seem to have much to do with the holiday. Dulcie Taylor has the jazzy "This Christmas Is Gonna Be Great," and Studeo wraps up with "Why Can't Christmas Last All Year," a 70s rocker with pop overtones. Given the title of the collection, the real rocking stuff is only about half the collection, but of course there are plenty of playlist candidates here. Downloads and streaming in the usual places, although Bongo Boy does offer hard copy at its website.

Haven't encountered Jonathan before, but this 2024 Christmas EP features six solid original tunes in a mostly soul/R'nB framework, although his publicity indicates he's best known in the gospel/Christian music world. Collection opener "White Christmas," not the classic tune, is a solid uptempo soul tune, while title cut "Red & Green," celebrating the holiday color scheme, has more of the contemporary hit chart sound. "Sent Me a King" and "Don't Take Christmas" are holiday soul ballads, more pop than gospel sounding. "Christmas Is Everything" picks up the pace again and "Forever Mistletoe" closes as a more R'nB styled ballad. Nice work, and if this moves you, Jonathan is touring behind it this season. Streaming and download options available.

The well-known hip-hop singer drops a single for 2024 in which she tells us she wants a "Big Santa" for Christmas, and you can probably imagine where she's going with this. Also included is "I Want You This Christmas," a similar tune in which the hook is her doing her Chipmunks impression. Solid listening experience and cool playlist candidates. Stream or download at your favorite services. 

Conan's a YouTube vlogger with a reputation for sensitive pop songs. For 2024 he dropped this poppy ballad about remembering the Christmases of his youth, and it's a pretty darn good piece of work. Despite the origins, it's professionally produced, and I don't know what the credits on this are so I can't say if Conan is any good at this singer-songwriter thing or if this is one of those modern gang-written things that dominate the current charts. Nevertheless, I'm not quibbling with the results. Downloads and streaming available.

I haven't encountered these folks before, but they're from Toronto and they once cut an album called Mississauga Goddam, which if you're familiar with that city's suburbs is one hilarious title. Anyway, for 2024 they dropped this synth-orchestral take on the classic carol, kind of ponderous and portentous, but a reasonably interesting pace-changer for your playlists. Back in 2020 they dropped "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," which Stereogum notes was actually recorded in 2007 but only released much later; it's a fairly straight pop rendition of the song. Downloads and streaming in the usual places.

This Northern Englander is known for doing music that cuts across everything from folk to psychedelic rock. For 2024, he picked up his guitar and banged out this tune, which he describes as a "throwaway," in the same sense that Christmas/Boxing Day gifts tend to be trivial items you play with and then throw in a drawer. I admit to having a bit of a struggle with his accent, but I can say the sentiments here are sincere and will last a long time. Amazon shows this with a flip side called "Polytunnel," which is actually the lead single from an upcoming album and is not holiday-oriented. Streaming and downloads, natch. (I guess I should add this isn't the US game-show host who's been dead for a decade.)

A solid folky version of this classic carol comes to us in 2024 from this Liverpool duo who has two albums out. They're often described as similar to Portishead or Mazzy Star, but this rendition is right in the tradition of past folk and country performances. Get it on their Bandcamp page or stream/download from the big music services.

It's always news when a big name like Ed goes Christmas. For 2024, he dropped this sweet pop ballad, written to go with a new Netflix Christmas movie. It gets the full orchestra and choir treatment, but it features piano rather than his signature acoustic guitar. Streaming and downloads, of course.

Haven't encountered Madi before, but this Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter just dropped a cool indie-rock ballad about holiday ennui and how she hopes throwing herself into the holiday ritual will dispel the year-end blahs. Downloads and streaming, or you can visit her Bandcamp page.