ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS SINGLES
THE XMAS FACTOR XMAS
The dull predictably of The X Factorhas taken a lot of the excitement out of the Christmas number one race. Yet, in the face of reality TV’s dominance, innovative punks Fucked Up have not given up the fight, enlisting the great and the good of the alternative music scene to combat SuBo and JLS with their take on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, featuring Vampire Weekend, TV On The Radio and Yo La Tengo. Niki Boyle weighs up its chances against the best alternative offerings to hit the singles chart this Christmas.
JULIAN CASABLANCAS ‘I Wish It Was Christmas Today’ (RCA Records) ●●●●● Sounds exactly like you’d want; a cover of the version on Saturday Night Live, imbued with indie credibility. Like Is This It-era Strokes with added synthy bits. Given the season, it’s tempting to forgive the sleigh-bells, but we still deducted a point for cheesiness. Chart potential: There’s always marketability in TV/ chart crossovers – medium to high.
KEVIN DEVINE ‘Splitting Up Christmas’ (BSM) ●●●●● Not about a festive split-up, more an acoustic meditation on how best to manage the difficult task of seeing all your friends, family and loved ones at Christmas. Catch him live at Glasgow’s Captain’s Rest on Tue 8 Dec to bag a numbered CD with exclusive b-side, Elliot Smith’s ‘Whatever (Some Folk Song In C)’. Chart potential: Low – but the effort charts highly in our hearts. SLOW CLUB ‘Christmas, Thanks For Nothing’ (Moshi Moshi) ●●●●● It’s hard to shake the feeling that Slow Club are trying to get one past us here – this 5-track EP includes two covers and ‘Christmas TV’ from their festive release from last year. Still, we’ll let them off because it’s brilliant . . . and it is Christmas. Simple, beautiful, and sans sleigh- bells. Chart potential: In an ideal world, huge. In this universe, slim.
BOB DYLAN ‘Must Be Santa’ (Columbia) ●●●●● The voice of ’60s protest music dons his happy hat for this jaunty little polka, with call-and-response lyrics and a made-up list of Santa’s reindeer. Check out the video, with Bob throwing a Skins-style party at his place, with fistfights and drinking a-plenty: http://tinyurl.com/yej9yjd Chart potential: Medium, but only because it’s Bobby.
30 THE LIST 3–17 Dec 2009
LAURA MARLING ‘Goodbye England, Covered In Snow’ (Virgin) ●●●●● The least festive song in our pick (more about winter and wintry relationships, really) is a lovely tune, but also reveals low notes are not Marling’s strength – although male harmonies help balance things out. Sadly the song’s forgotten almost as soon as it’s over. Chart potential: May shift copies among grieving ex-boyfriends, otherwise widely overlooked. X ‘Merry Xmas From X’ (Anko Records/IODA) ●●●●● This two-track EP has the ‘80s LA surf-pop-punks covering Christmas standards, including ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ with wicked jingly-jangly guitar, and ‘Jingle Bells’ with a dangerous bassline that would fit right into a Robert Rodriguez film. Good versions of old classics, but no fresh material. Chart potential: An alt novelty, so not much.
KILLERS ‘Happy Birthday Guadelupe’ (Island Def Jam) star rating not available Mariachi El Bronx and Wild Light star on this Mexican-flavoured outing: the Killers’ fourth Xmas single to date. Rumours say it’ll be a tribute to the Virgen de Guadelupe, born on 12 Dec. Here at The List, we like the sound of added jalapeno stuffing in our turkey. Viva Los Killers! Chart potential: Moderate – could do with a Peter Kay cameo to broaden its appeal. FUCKED UP ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ (Matador) star rating not available Vampire Weekend, GZA, TV On The Radio, Broken Social Scene, No Age and Yo La Tengo are confirmed; Feist, Jarvis Cocker and M.I.A. are still TBC. Fucked Up frontman Pink Eyes is also hoping for ‘a Jonas brother’. Not yet recorded, the line- up’s got us spasming in excitement. Chart potential: Lots, if the downtrodden indie misfits rise up to take this Christmas as their own.