This song is terrifying. Up until the last verse, where the lyrics change a bit, it's also one of the bigger mismatches I've ever heard between lyrical content and lyrical delivery. Picture a song about waiting for Santa to come with presents, delivered a bit like a hybrid between "John Prine" and horror movie soundtrack music. When the drums come in, I got a little shiver. And the video! Those kids! When they start singing along, I thought something really bad was going to happen. It helps than Alan and Mimi's vocals are the most off-key and unsettling I've heard in a while, maybe ever. And while their site still features a picture of the band with Matt Livingston in it, if he has quit it's reflected in the fact that there seems to be almost no bass in this track.
I just heard about this song today, and so you are getting my very first reaction to it, but god it's a powerful track. I really hope this doesn't stay just a vinyl/download single, I could see this working on an album. Kudos to whoever did the video as well, it's very striking and immediately effective (especially the end of it, god).
6 comments:
Matt Livingston did quit, he was replaced by Steve Garrington who was in Retribution Gospel Choir with Alan Sparhawk. Their bass player list is getting a bit like Spinal Tap with drummers.. I love the fact that they did a sort of scary inversion of the typical Christmas song! Can't see it appearing on an album though, it'd be weird to have a Christmas-themed tune thrown in the middle.
Normally I'd agree with you, but this particular Christmas song I could see working. Thanks for the information.
I LOVE IT.
I got the vinyl single in the mail over the weekend. I sort of took it as a parody of their more arid songs of late ("pissing", "in silence"). It's both terrifying and hilarious. Low make my favorite kids' rock bar nobody.
That said, the accidental and terrible resonance this song has with that horrific event a couple weeks ago really freaks me out.
Oh man, I didn't even think of this song in terms of that horrible event... given that it started with "Santa" shooting a little girl in the face, yeah, this song attains a terrible and wholly accidental resonance.
Every bird likes its own nest.
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