Butch Walker – Over the Holidays and Under the Influence
2017, self-released
- Walking In a Winter Wonderland
- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Jingle Bells
- The Jingle Bell Rock
- Frosty The Snowman
- Lil Drummer Boy
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
- Feliz Navidad
Taking a break from hipster indie rock, Butch Walker and his band (the wonderfully titled “Holiday Players” for this album), deliver a loose, upbeat “warts and all” collection of holiday classics on Over the Holidays and Under the Influence. The album cover itself is a parody of The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album from 1964.
Supposedly, the album was a slightly intoxicated rehearsal for a Christmas party in 2016 that just happened to be recorded. Whether that’s true or not, who knows, but it certainly seems plausible given the jovial nature of Butch and the rest of the band. They banter, they break out in banter, they flub notes and lyrics… it really does sound like a bunch of guys sitting around playing and goofing off. It was only once the band realized this could be a fun album that some actual production went into it with the inclusion of horns and some additional percussion. Still, it isn’t over-produced like so many holiday albums are today.
Their version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” is a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s cover, if that makes any sense. And the final track, “Feliz Navidad”, morphs into Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (a song Butch had previously covered) at certain parts.
If you’re looking for touching sentiment, songs strictly crooned in their traditional style or holiday classics to be reinvented in modern pop fashion, move along, but if you want something that clocks in at under 30 minutes, won’t require too much attention and offers a fun & free atmosphere, give this album a spin for the holidays. It’s limited to 1,000 copies on vinyl, but can easily be found on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, etc.
Highlights: “Walking In a Winder Wonderland”, “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
