VARIOUS ARTISTS
Sonic Trout
Another Christmas Gift For You
21 songs
As someone who hates Christmas, and REALLY hates Christmas music, this is a perversely enjoyable surprise. Sonic Trout are label-hosts mainly to Chandler Travis Philharmonic and The Incredible Casuals, but many a furry friend and oddball offshoot are featured here to stellar effect. The main reasons it works so well are, A) the songs which DO mention Christmas are great enough on their own that the context is completely negligible, whereas B) the unavoidably thematic ones are so charmingly fucked that you could never, say, play them at the office holiday party without getting fired (Rikki & Johnny’s cordially alien “Sleigh Ride,” among others). In these instances alone, you’re getting significantly toasted entertainment which never condescends, yet which works beautifully if you ever got the actual seasonal itch for some reason, and yet AGAIN, would sound great any time o’ year regardless. How many NON-Christmas records can you say all that about? And yet, aside from some masterful power-pop, there are drippingly surreal jazz warps, perfectly lovely little choral treatments, waltzes with accordions, and a number of things no one’s ever tried before. My only beef is the three minutes of silence two-thirds in for no good reason. Otherwise, a swell thing that’ll sound just as good in July, which I guess makes it a pretty good Christmas present after all. (Joe Coughlin)