GLEN FARRIS AND SHAUN TREAT
TThe fine folks over at the Denton Record-Chronicle published a mighty fine “Denton Christmas Playlist” last weekend, which got our collective gears a’turning. To us, their 5 songs seemed like a good start to throwing together a longer selection of locally-sourced holiday cheer. So our gift to y’all this year is the following WDDI Denton TXmas Awesome Holiday Mixtape (vol. 7), our extended representative sampling in no particular order.
BOWLING FOR SOUP – “FATHER CHRISTMAS”
These Witchita Falls rockers honed their sound in Denton pubs, and this take is a fun way to kick things up a notch for your Holiday party.
NORAH JONES & WILLIE NELSON – “BABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE”
Both of these music legends have their roots in the Denton scene, and their take on a notoriously slightly creepy tune is actually a welcome breath of fresh air.
BAPTIST GENERALS – “ALCOHOL”
Okay, not a Christmas song proper, but definitely speaks to a major (some would say essential) ingredient in a lot of holiday celebrations. We stand by our selection.
ROY ORBISON – “PRETTY PAPER”
Few can belt out a soulfully lovelorn ballad like The O, an old-timey tune that deserves far more holiday play than it gets.
PAT BOONE – “WHITE CHRISTMAS”
It just doesn’t come any whiter or more Christmassy than this NTSU alum. Trust us, your momma will applaud this pick.
POLYPHONIC SPREE – “HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)”
These choral dynamos deliver a pitch-perfect cover of the haunting John Lennon classic.
CENTRO-MATIC – “FUSELAGE (ITS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN)”
This Denton indy legend mixes growling pop beats with abstracted instrumentals, a toe-tapping homage to the more angsty aspects of the holidays.
EAGLES – PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
A Christmas mix without Don Henley and The Eagles? Blasphemy.
FISHBOY – “A SURPRISE RETURN”
Who else but our own beloved Fishboy could deliver a song about a zombie Christmas Tree returning for a hangout? That’s right, no one. You’re welcome.
SNARKY PUPPY – “THING OF GOLD”
Familiar holiday beats filtered through an acid jazz jam session? Yes, please.
NEW SCIENCE PROJECTS – “XMAS CALL”
One of our favorite punk blues tributes to another less-discussed holiday tradition, the drunken phone call to an Ex.
SLOBBERBONE – “GIVE ME BACK MY DOG”
The opposite of gift giving is demanding your dang pooch back, which is why we are totally counting this track on our holiday mixtape. I mean, Stephen King name-dropped this as one of his picks for the greatest rock-and-roll song of all time, so you can argue with him in the comments.
SARAH JAFFE – “CLEMENTINE”
Little known fact, Clementine is actually the name of Mrs. Claus before she… Okay, nah, just kidding. Because Glen appears in the hauntingly beautiful video for this amazing tune, we here at WDDI will always include it on every songlist ever. Always. It’s a thing, just roll with it.
If you want to sample and savor these songs along with plenty more local selections, then click on over to this WDDI MT007 playlist, or this epic YouTube mixtape variation by Shaun Treat. We went ahead and included the video for Centro-matic's "Fuselage" below because how can anyone resist all those stills from A Christmas Vacation?
As always, we love to hear your hot take in the comments in case we missed one of your favorites.
Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and Happy Holidays from the gang here at We Denton Do It.
