Fishing For Christmas, G. Love and Special Sauce (Regine)

G. Love and Special Sauce is a Philadelphia-based group that has for years traded on an improbable amalgamation of country blues and hip-hop, and they've been reasonably successful with it, if not actually household words by now. This is their second Christmas album after 2017's outing, almost all new except for a revisiting of the previously released "Cape Cod Winter Blues." The title tune is as advertised, a partially rapped love letter to angling on the holidays, "Joy to the World" is a straight country hoedown, "Falling in Love With Christmas" is more of G. Love's signature sound, "Christmas Moon" is a harmony ballad carried by mandolin and harmonica, "Holiday on the Island" throws in some tropically appropriate reggae rhythm and organ, the classic "Jingle Bells" gets a funky rhythm section along with the famous "Batman" alternate verses, "I Saw Santa" is a fast shuffle behind self-explanatory lyrics, "Christmas Change" is a front-porch skiffle session about filling Santa's begging pail, "Christmas Is Coming" lays into a jungle beat before singing it as a round, and the band wraps up with two classics, "We Three Kings" as a waltz and "Silent Night" in a country/bluegrass harmony arrangement. Fans will want to complete their collections, but if you haven't had any G. Love in your collection before, now's a good time to start. Downloads and streaming available.