As a genre, Christmas music is about as sacred a genre as they come, not due to any religious or spiritual connotations but rather because of the soft spot in most people’s hearts for classics sung by crooners with names like Bing and Nat and Burl. They don’t make names like that anymore, but then again they don’t record songs like those anymore, either. Classic holiday songs live outside the perverted influence of the zeitgeist, instead tapping into an aura of timeless nostalgia. Perhaps those vocalists from the 1940s and ’50s didn’t realize the degree to which their songs would become lionized as part of the American experience–indeed, how could they have known?–but the fact remains that their works have been etched indelibly on the consciousness of generations raised in a country that, for better or worse, fully indulges in the holiday spirit.

The challenges in taking on the Christmas tune are obvious and copious, but it’s safe to say that the twelve artists on Oh Santa! are wholly uninterested in competing with the likes of Rat Pack vocalists. Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers’ take on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” notwithstanding, there are no attempts to resurrect or reinterpret any songs that are even remote holiday classics; instead, the focus is cast on Christmas themed original compositions, an approach that presents its own problems. If the only obvious element uniting the music collected on a record is a thematic one, it becomes difficult to establish any cohesion from song to song.

Granted, that may not sound like much of a hurdle (who doesn’t like their mp3 player on shuffle mode?), but in practice it is frustrating to listen to a record the whole way through and walk away feeling that, through its fits and starts, it never took you anywhere. On the whole, Oh Santa! is mediocre and uneven. Los Straitjackets open the disc with “Holiday Twist,” a song so unsubstantive and hollow it seems like it was a throwaway puff piece written for a children’s television show. They are followed by the bipolar antics of Jason Ringenberg and Kristi Rose’s “Lovely Christmas,” a temper tantrum that doesn’t get what it wants. Even “Holiday Mood,” The Apples In Stereo’s contribution to the disc and the track I most anticipated, is unmemorable if unarguably cutesy. Elsewhere, Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men sound like they were rescued from a set of original Christmas-themed compositions at your local pub.

Oh Santa! does have its moments of inspiration, courtesy of a few acts who are always enjoyable even at their worst. The Minus 5 close the set with “Your Christmas Whiskey,” a subject which makes it “the warmest time of year.” Their compositions never fail to hit upon a simplicity and appreciation for melody and classic pop song conventions that are cozy and satisfying. Chatham County Line’s modern bluegrass perfectly suits “O! Santa” and quietly asserts itself as the star of the compilation. Fiddles underscore chorus harmonies on a rambling number that wouldn’t be out of place in Garrison Keilor’s universe. Lastly, overlooked indie kids American Princes throw down a T. Rex style glammer on “The Business of Christmas,” a song so well conceived and executed that it makes me want to dig up their 2006 release, Less and Less.

Those three songs are well worth hearing despite being mired in their surroundings. Oh Santa! isn’t likely to be picked up except by completist fanatics of the acts involved, but if you pop into Amazon and download that trifecta you won’t be disappointed.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.