Wicked Cool Records’ New Holiday Music Compilation Is An Aptly Titled Collection

By: Philip Sayblack

​Christmas is less than a week away, and no doubt with only days left until the big day, we are all beyond sick and tired of hearing the same holiday standards being played on radios in stores and in vehicles for yet another year.  Keeping that in mind, Wicked Cool Records is offering audiences still looking for an alternative for that annoyingly tired music with a collection of new holiday covers in the star-studded compilation, It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas.  Released Dec. 5, this 11-song compilation is such a breath of fresh air for every person looking to escape the clutches of those noted tired old songs that we hear year in and year out.  One of the most notable of the entries in this set comes from veteran independent singer-songwriter Ryan Hamilton in the form of his take of ‘To Heck With Ole Santa Claus.’  Fellow independent artist Kurt Baker offers audiences his own enjoyable performance of ‘Christmas in the Sand (Mistletoe Mix).’  The Dollyrots’ cover of the timeless New Year’s Eve song, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ is yet another enjoyable addition to the collection.  When it and the other songs noted here are considered alongside the rest of the record’s entries, the whole makes It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas a wicked cool collection of lesser-known holiday tunes that deserves so much attention.
Wicked Cool Records’ new holiday music compilation, It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas is the most welcome addition to this year’s field of new seasonal sounds.  That is because the music that makes up the record’s body is anything but that annual bunch of tired, all to familiar fare.  It goes in a completely different direction from those other holiday compilations, giving attention to a whole new batch of classic holiday tunes.  One of the most notable of the songs featured here is Ryan Hamilton’s cover of ‘To Heck With Ole Santa Claus.’  Made famous by country music legend Loretta Lynn (the true queen of country music, may she rest in peace), this song is welcome because it is so cynical.  It is not that happy, happy, joy, joy junk that audiences hear this time of year everywhere.  That likely is why it never receives the attention it deserves.  What is so interesting here is that while Lynn’s rendition is pure classic (true) country, there is a weird similarity in the sound of Lynn’s vocal delivery to that of Hamilton’s own vocal presentation.  There is a certain sharpness within his nasal sound that makes his performance so akin to Lynn’s that makes his performance so endearing in its own way.  The rockabilly approach that Hamilton takes here works just as well considering the link that rockabilly has to country music.
The energy in the overall musical performance here works well on its own.  Add in the song’s noted cynical lyrical content and the song in whole becomes even more impacting as Hamilton sings, “To heck with ole Santa Claus/When he goes dashing through the snow/I hope he falls/Well I’d love to hit him in his Ho Ho Ho/With a bunch of snowballs/To heck with ole’ Santa Claus.”  Hamilton does not have to be forceful here.  He is just straight forward and that edge that he brings to the statement makes that anger and frustration hit home here.  Too bad most radio stations and public businesses will not play this song or even Loretta Lynn’s take on the song because it surely is a welcome change of pace for the holiday season that we all need considering its reality.
Ryan Hamilton’s take of ‘To Heck With Ole Santa Claus’ is just one of the notable entries in this record.  Fellow independent singer-songwriter Kurt Baker’s updated take of Colbie Callait’s ‘Christmas in the Sand’ (dubbed the Mistletoe Mix) is another welcome addition to the compilation.  Baker changes not only the musical arrangement from Callait’s original, but also much of the lyrical body.  Where Callait’s rendition of this song is far too much like so many seasonal pop songs from female artists (they try too hard to emulate Mariah Carey, who herself is annoying what with that god awful song she is known for performing) Baker turns this song on its ear (thank goodness) and actually improves on the Callait’s presentation.  He actually gives the song a fun, light touch alongside his fellow musicians. 
As noted, the musical arrangement is not the only improvement that Baker makes on Callait’s song.  He also improves on the song’s lyrical content.  Baker tells audiences as the song progresses, “It’s that time of year again/The autumn has come to an end/Holiday songs and parties too/The lights are bright/But I’m feeling blue/It’s Christmas/I’ve waited so long/the good list/All year I’ve been on/Family and friends are near/but I can’t find that Christmas cheer/It’s hard to let that feeling grow/When all I see is ice and snow/I need the sun/I need the sand/I need a blonde beach babe beside me getting tanned/Oh I long to be in the summer sun/With my special one/One of these days/I’ll run away/Maybe in Kokomo/Or somewhere down that way/Wouldn’t it be grand/If we could spend this Christmas in the sand.”  Again, that mention of being somewhere sunnier and warmer gives the song its own beachy sense but also gives the song a whole new identity along with the musical arrangement.  The sound of people mingling and talking in the background is subtle but adds so much to the presentation in that subtle simplicity.  Baker continues in the song’s second verse, “I don’t wanna deck the halls/I’m having summertime withdrawal/My friends all seem to question me/It’s Christmas/Why aren’t you happy/So bring the wine and mistletoe/I know a place where we can go.”  Simply put, Baker’s take on Callait’s song is the anti-‘White Christmas’ and the polar opposite of her song.  Callait’s song is just a holiday beachy fantasy of sorts with way too much pop lean and no real content.  Baker’s song is more that statement that a person does not have to give in to the brainwashed belief that “it’s not Christmas without snow.”  On another note, he also serves the start a discussion on that societal belief that we should all be so happy during this time of year.  That is garbage.  It is ok if a person is not all happy and joyful and bright and that a person does not want to celebrate cold weather.  It is just a wholly different song herein and so welcome.  To that end, it is another example of what makes this compilation so enjoyable.
Yet one more notable addition to It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas is the record’s closer, the Dollyrots’ cover of the New Year’s Eve standard ‘Auld Lang Syne.’  Originally composed by Robert Burns as a poem in 1788, this song has been performed year in and year out on New Year’s Eve and at other functions around the world, including graduations and even funerals.  In the case of the performance here, the band stays true to the song we all know.  At the same time, the punk lean that the band brings to the song for some reason conjures thoughts of Dropkick Murphys in the best way possible.  Maybe that is just because of the band’s cover of ‘Amazing Grace’ for which it has come to be known, what with the punk approach the band brought to that song.  Either way, The Dollyrots’ take of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ here is so fun and another welcome change from that same old same old that audiences have come to know for decades and a fitting finale for the record, considering that New Year’s Eve follows all of the festivities surrounding Christmas.  Keeping that in mind, the song is one more solid example of how much It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas has to offer audiences.  When it and the other songs examined are considered alongside the rest of the record’s entries (including Steve Conte’s cover of The Kinks’ holiday protest song, ‘Father Christmas’) the whole makes this compilation a rare shining gem among this year’s field of otherwise boring seasonal music offerings.
It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas, the recently released holiday music compilation from Wicked Cool Records, is such a welcome entry in this year’s field of new seasonal music offerings.  That is because on one level, it takes on songs that are otherwise not typically played widely during this time of year.  To that end, it is a great way to introduce audiences to such music (and even to artists whom audiences might otherwise not have typically taken in).  The covers themselves are unique, as is evidenced through each of the songs examined here.  When those songs are examined alongside the rest of the record’s entries, the whole therein makes It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas an aptly titled record that audiences who have tired of the same old same old this and every holiday season.  They make it a diamond in the rough that stands as the best of this year’s seasonal music offerings.
It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas is available now through Wicked Cool Records.  More information on this and other titles from Wicked Cool Records is available at:
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