There Ain't No Santos Claus!, various artists (Mistletunes, 2023)

We've managed to shake off the effects of the pandemic for now, but there's another epidemic that there's still no vaccine to fight -- grifting. Hence, our cover boy, who was created with the help of an AI program since I didn't want to steal the image from any of the editorial cartoonists who came up with it. (Support editorial cartooning by buying their books and swag, subscribing to your local newspaper, and writing nasty letters to them when they drop cartooning.) 

Meanwhile, it's time to celebrate a collection of new-ish holiday music that most people will have forgotten about by the last weekend of the year, but which nevertheless peps up our Christmas celebrations now.

• "Rock the Christmas Cheer," The Bongos -- A longtime favorite group of mine who I had the good fortune to see back in the 80s, this holiday tune shows they haven't lost a step as they reform in the current millennium.
• "Hey Santa," Cindy Lawson -- Still love those modern garage bands, and this one throws in some girl group spunk to boot.
• "Christina (Christmas Baby)," The Tell Alls -- Nice little ode to a youngster who made her arrival on Christmas day, and to the stories the family will tell until the end of time.
• "All I Want For Christmas Is You," The Surfrajettes -- It's a great song even though we're sick of the Mariah Carey original, so here's a female-led surf band from Toronto with an instrumental version.
• "Christmas Is For Everyone," Colleen Green -- A cool original song from this Massachusetts singer-songwriter rendered in a tight indie-rock arrangement.
• "Los Chrismos," Los Bitchos -- Mostly instrumental, but with a little party-time shouting to set it off.
• "Seat at the Table," The Vamps -- A fine ballad from the heart about saving space in your heart for those who can't make it for the holiday, for whatever reason.
• "California Holiday," Kadhja Bonet -- Because we never overlook the (mostly) snow-free holiday locales, here's something sweet, slow and funky to remind us.
• "DJ Play a Christmas Song," Cher -- If you remember her last big hit from a while back, "Believe," you'll probably recognize elements of that song in this one. You'd think a big star like Cher would be able to steal a little Christmas thunder from that other singing diva, but it hasn't quite turned out that way, has it?
• "Christmas Day Funk Master," Cliff Beach -- Another California connection with this guy (his record label is "California Soul") bringing us some old-school funk to celebrate with this year.
• "(Yes It's) Christmas," War -- Another legacy band returns for the current holiday with this festive take on a previous hit of theirs celebrating summer. Works for me, probably will for you too.
• "Christmas Morning," Annie Jay -- Yet another connection to the West Coast, from where this folky singer-songwriter hails, giving us a breezy original accented with banjo.
• "Feelin' Sorry," My Morning Jacket -- Longtime rockers with a few previous passes at the holiday drop a new midtempo rocker about mixed feelings on the holiday.
• "Some Kind of Christmas," Fitz and the Tantrums -- This pop-soul ensemble is back on the Christmas tip for 2023 with a short collection of original holiday tunes, and this one is, I think, the most representative of their year-round sound.
• "Driving Home For Christmas," Middle Kids -- This modern pop-rock band covers an old Chris Rea favorite for the holiday in a sprightly manner.
• "Christmastime In the City (2020 Version), Maple Mars -- Indie power-poppers had this song out a decade or so ago, but they were asked to cut a new version to pitch to a movie. Don't know if they were picked up, but they should have been.
• "Gee Whiz, It's Christmas," Nacion Funk All-Stars with Koko-Jean Davis -- Classic soul music ensemble from Spain takes on the Carla Thomas classic.
• "Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like That," Eels -- Cool ballad by this popular one-man band that was languishing in his archives until it was added to a new collection of unreleased tunes this year.
• "Christmas Star," Abbe Barrett -- Another ballad, this sweet yearning song deserves to be a perennial favorite.
• "Pete's Dad," Porno For Pyros -- Legacy alt-rockers are preparing a farewell with a new album and tour, and along with that they dropped this sweet tune about the guitarist's father recovering from cancer during the holidays.
• "Xmas Blue," Save Ferris -- Nineties ska-punk band is back with a new uptempo original for the holiday.
• "A Stupid Xmas," The Sensible Gray Cells -- British rockers throw us, and the holiday, some punk attitude.
• "It's New Year's Eve," Big Harp George -- You could do a lot worse than to end the year with some blues, and I'm sure this George, if not the one on the cover, will agree.