The 1986 Christmas release by the dB\u2019s is an album that not only keeps on ticking but keeps on expanding as well. Originally a vinyl release, it has been reissued in 1993, 2006, and now 2015. The 1986 reissue added tracks by the dB\u2019s and \u201cThe Christmas Song\u201d by Alex Chilton. 2006 saw Marshall Crenshaw, Don Dixon, Whiskeytown, and Caitlin Cary climbing on board\u00a0the Christmas wagon. Now, an array of musicians have added tracks \u2013 including Robyn Hitchcock, Lydia Kavanagh, Brett Harris, Skylar Gudasz, and Big Star\u2019s Third\u00a0\u2013 bringing the total to a generous 22.<\/p>\n
As can be guessed by now, this is not your normal Christmas album; none of these songs will ever grace a Church Christmas Eve service. The music is a cross between power pop and alternative rock and should be approached as such.<\/p>\n
It is also not very cohesive, as tracks have been added without much thought of fitting together. Many are quirky, and some approach Christmas from oblique directions. There are a few clunkers, but many of the tracks are very\u00a0creative pop and rock.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristmas Time\u201d and the satire of\u00a0\u201cHoliday Spirit\u201d are what one would expect from the 1980s oriented dB\u2019s, complete\u00a0with melodic and jangly power pop. Big Star\u2019s Third, with vocals by Mike Mills, presents the most traditional track with their live \u201cJesus Christ.\u201d Also live is a jazzy rendition of \u201cI Saw Three Ships\u201d by Don Dixon.<\/p>\n
Exploring the odd side of Christmas, Alex Chilton twists the classic holiday tune \u201cThe Christmas Song\u201d all out of shape. \u201cHouses On The Hill\u201d by Whiskeytown is so depressing that it can suck the energy out of any holiday celebration. Add in the gunslinger classic \u201cThe Only Law That Santa Claus Understood\u201d by Ted Lyons and you have music for just about any holiday occasion.<\/p>\n
Christmas Time Again <\/em>by the dB\u2019s and their ever expanding circle of friends is the Christmas present that keeps on giving through the entire year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":32567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9750],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44331","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-dbs-friends","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44331"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}