DoorDasher, various artists (Mistletunes, 2024)

Welcome to yet another holiday playlist from your friends at Mistletunes, the ho-ho-home of a rock 'n roll Christmas. This year everybody's talking about artificial intelligence, which is only fair as there seems to be a severe shortage of the actual stuff; there's a supply chain that really needs to be worked on. As it happens, we used AI to create this year's cover art, and there are two songs in the playlist that were created via AI as well. Draw your own conclusions as to any or all of this, no warranties or liabilities implied or accepted. Now that the legal boilerplate's out of the way, let's dig into some holly-festooned jollies.

"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday," The Dollyrots -- Not a well-known tune on this side of the Atlantic, our British friends have a sweet tooth for this one going back to the early 1970s when Roy Wood's Wizzard put this on the Old Blighty charts. The popular pop-punkers dropped a version that's more in their own style to kick things off here.

"Laugh, Like Jolly Old Saint Nick," The Tell-Alls -- This Nashville band give us a little faux rockabilly on a cool original tune that recalls childhood Christmas celebrations.

"I Renounce Verdukianism!," The Boy Detective -- A nice semi-pop-ska tune based in part on a stray plot point from a Christmas episode of the TV show "30 Rock." 

"Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call," Bleachers -- A fairly ambivalent holiday tableau is described herein by the guy who's better known as a producer of such folks as Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray. Fans of Coldplay and Killers will hear some familiar sounds on this one.

"AT Christmas," Sofia Talvik -- Sofia's from Sweden and she's been writing new Christmas tunes every year for two decades. They tend to be dark, as in this song about a guy who gets lost in the snow along the Appalachian Trail. It's based on a true story, except the real event had a happy ending and this song doesn't.

"Christmas Tiime Again," El Vez and the Centuries -- This Mexican-American performer has been doing an Elvis impersonation for decades now, except that he ropes in references to Hispanic culture and the greater rock scene during his performances.

"Donde Esta Santa Claus?," Mento Buru -- An eclectic bunch that might remind you of Los Lobos if they had come along during the ska craze, these guys take a crack at this moderately obscure Tex-Mex Christmas tune.

"Must Be Santa," The Weeklings -- This playlist's semi-obligatory annual nod to the Beatles comes via these guys, who have been on several past Mistletunes collections. They superimpose riffs from "Helter Skelter" over this popular call-and-response tune most frequently rendered as a polka.

"Mom Saw Jesus in Her Fruitcake," Almost Vinyl -- And here's the first of the two AI tunes on this year's playlist, a 1950s styled pop-country tune about the bane of every Christmas family gathering becoming the star of a community frenzy when Mom misplaces her glasses.

"Santa Drives an Astrovan," The Philly Specials & Mt. Joy -- Produced for a charity album sponsored by members of the Philadelphia Eagles, former local boys Mt. Joy take part in this acoustic ode to Santa's need for a work vehicle.

"Anything Can Happen on the Holiest of Days," The Zolas -- A dreamy meditation on holiday verities.

"I Got This For You (For Christmas)," MOVIELAND -- Not to be confused with the band called Movieland (lower case), these crazy Canadians were known in the shoegaze scene, and you may detect a little of that in this.

"Giddy Up Santa," The Krayolas -- This Austin band looks to the West Coast, particularly LA cars-and-surf bands, but considering where they're from they decided to substitute horses in this tune.

"Perfect Christmas Tune," Gaspard Royant and Nicole Atkins -- The title sets up a pretty tough challenge for the writers, and while it may not be perfect, it's good enough.

"Xmas," Bartees Strange -- This college radio star gives us a funky semi-acoustic ode to the holiday with a few mixed feelings thrown in.

"Give Out My Christmas Love," Wesley Bright -- From Akron, OH, Wesley's been making this kind of retro-soul in clubs and theaters throughout the USA for about a decade now, and this year he turned his attention to Christmas.

"If We Make It Through December," Buzz Kull -- From a collection of "goth Christmas" tunes, this may be the only time you can trace a connection between Merle Haggard (song's author) and Til' Tuesday (note the synth riff that recurs throughout the song).

"Santa's Knee," Lenny Kaye and Cedar Sparks -- An unexpectedly heartfelt holiday story from the guy who played lead guitar for Patti Smith.

"We Could Have This," Ben Folds and Lindsey Kraft -- A sweet holiday ballad in Folds' inimitable style, augmented with Lindsey's skill as a duet partner.

"A Pocketful of Christmas," The New Bardots -- Solid power pop/rock from this up-and-coming band.

"Holidays in Austin," Parker Woodland -- Unlike their fellow Austin band above, these folks revel in their hometown for the holidays.

"Xmas 101," World News -- Young London band gives us some uptempo holiday joy while reminding us of 80s bands like Echo and the Bunnymen.

"Purple Snowflakes," Say She She -- The song originated with Marvin Gaye but his version was not released until after his death. Since then, a lot of folks have covered it, including this alt-rock-pop ensemble.

"This Christmas Turkey Sucks," Relatable Grooves -- And here's our other AI-generated holiday hit, applying a bit of Motown to this ode to culinary criticism. Hey, we can't all be Guy Fieri, right?

"Happy New Year! (Cheers To You)," George Nipson -- Wrapping up this year's playlist is this original tune that plays around with "Auld Lang Syne" without actually breaking into it. Happy holidays once again.