Most years, I don’t typically think about Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. This isn’t most years though. With how much of a hellscape 2020 has been, you best believe I kicked on the all Christmas radio station a couple week’s early this year. They play all the favorites, traditionals, and hits. That scratches the itch for a bit. After you’ve gone through your first round of repeats though, it’s time to step out of the box a little and listen to some more interesting, and non-traditional, Christmas music.
Enter The Myrrhderers (pronounced Murderers).
Hailing from the North Pole, the band is a supergroup of sorts featuring members of bands like Sleigher, Prancid, and Dead Kringles. With a growing concern over melting ice caps and less work due to Amazon, the band formed in an effort to document the songs of their people. Produced by Jamie Hilsden of Man Alive and Corey Ben Yehuda of Useless ID, The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmas is a solid five-song EP filled with punked-up versions of your favorite Christmas standards. Even though each song is performed by a punk band, they still contain the magic and heart of the originals. There’s a nice balancing act done by the band to not sway too far in one direction with the recordings.
Deck The Halls With Lots of Punk Rock
The EP starts off with “Deck The Halls.” The opening guitar riff should be recognizable to any ’90s punk fan. It’s definitely inspired by one of the band member’s time in Prancid (if you catch my snowdrift). It’s actually a really cool musical decision to start the song with something so iconic and gradually transition into using carol bells with the more traditional “Deck the Halls” melody.
The first single released from the album is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. Originally written as an English carol in the 16th century, the song traditionally has a more subdued sound to it. The Myrrhderers sped it up considerably, added some gang vocals, and made it much more energetic. It’s really a blast to listen to.
I always try to seek out Christmas music that is a little left of center. It’s always fun to hear your favorite bands interpret the classics in a new and imaginative way. To be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect when I started listening to The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmas. It’s fun that they’ve created these personas for the album, but I was it would feel more like a gimmick.
Final Thoughts
No reason to fear though! All five tracks sound great – both from a production standpoint and musically. The band does a good job of keeping the song’s essence, while also using melodic punk to make them new. There’s a pretty even split between secular and spiritual songs. To be honest, I usually skip the more religious Christmas carols. They’re way better when arranged this way. More punk bands need to fix these songs! This EP will definitely make it into my regular Christmas song rotations from here on out. I put it right up there with Bad Religion’s Christmas Songs in terms of quality.
The Myrrhderers Sleigh Christmas is available November 20, 2020 on all popular streaming services, or you can purchase a digital copy on bandcamp.