Christmas covers come pretty fast this time of year (duh), so we periodically step back to collect a bunch in a single post. Our last set was a few weeks ago and since then we’ve posted new Christmas songs by My Morning Jacket, Josh T. Pearson, Dawes/Peter Wolf Crier/Mannequin Man, and Red Wanting Blue/Tristen. Even with all that, though, there have been even more we haven’t gotten to. So here’s a bunch, crammed together for a holiday mixtape or just some Christmas cheer.
The Civil Wars, who have yet to release a cover we don’t love, keep the streak alive with “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” It comes on a new single backing their seasonal original “Tracks in the Snow.” The tracks originally dropped last year, but have been giving an official re-release now that the band is significantly better known.
The Civil Wars – Tracks in the Snow/O Come O Come Emmanuel
Since we last checked in with Holiday Undercover, the A.V. Club has posted two new Christmas tunes. Both bands steer away from anything you’d hear at Macy’s. First, David Bazan digs up Low’s slowcore gem “Just Like Christmas,” noting that he’s covered them before on one of his Christmas seven-inches. Then, Little Scream tackles the Velvet Underground’s “Jesus,” a song that doesn’t exactly embody the feel-good holiday spirit. It does feature musical saw, just like any Christmas song should.
David Bazan – Just Like Christmas (Low cover)
Little Scream – Jesus (The Velvet Underground cover)
Last month, we premiered the Bandana Splits’ delicate new Morrissey cover. Now they’re back with a holiday theme on Paul McCartney’s treacly “Wonderful Christmas Time.” The song and video are adorable enough that you should have no problem ignoring the lyrics.
The Bandana Splits – Wonderful Christmas Time (Paul McCartney cover)
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Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap dropped a wacky Christmas EP. It features covers of Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and a wacky mashup between “Oh! What a Night” and a somewhat rewritten “The Night Before Christmas.”
Two more “Last Christmas” covers for all you Wham! superfans out there. The first comes from Saskatchewan (the band, that is, not the province). The group in fact hails from Orlando and has a beach pop sound you might associate with a coastal state. Also, Coming Soon – another band with a hard-to-Google name – gets twee on their version.
Saskatchewan – Last Christmas (Wham! cover)
Coming Soon – Last Christmas (Wham! cover)
We’ve already heard Dawes cover the Charlie Brown Christmas classic “Christmas Time Is Here.” Since we can never have enough Vince Guaraldi, though, here’s Woods’ version.
MP3: Woods – Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi cover)
[audio: News1211/07ChristmasTimeIsHere.mp3]
Check out more holiday covers in the archive.
