After more than thirty years spitting vitriol at the system; denigrating religion, harmful politics as well as society’s missteps as a whole, the punk rock institution known as Bad Religion has released a Christmas album. The first question one may be tempted to ask is why. For those who know the band well, a move like this should come as no surprise. Despite their often contemplative and serious lyrical subject matter, a sense of humor has always been a part of Bad Religion’s repertoire. On top of that, band leader and mastermind Greg Graffin grew up singing folk music with his family, participating in choruses, and other decidedly non-punk activities. All of this has molded the man into what he is today, and there is no doubt that his folksy background has added to Bad Religion’s three decade plus musical magic.
The hymns sung on this album are without a doubt the religious ones. Was this a deliberate tongue-in-cheek mockery of Christianity, or an ever more subtle dig at the secularization of the holiday? Despite the origins of these songs in the pulpit, they have been adopted by all of us regardless of our belief in the validity of their statements. What is certainly evident upon listening to timeless hits such as “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” is that Bad Religion had a blast making this album. The arrangements are far from simple, putting the band’s substantial talents to the test. “Little Drummer Boy”, with its classical music time signatures, has to be one of the most complicated tracks they have ever recorded. Taken as a whole, the album manages to fit alongside much of Bad Religion’s body of original work. So whether you are a typical anti-establishment punk rock fan or a typical fan of seasonal music, you will find a very satisfying listen here. You could play this for your mother and father, and they would have a hard time lumping it in with the rest of “that garbage you listen to”.
As if to remind people where they really stand, Bad Religion threw in an Andy Wallace re-recording of their 1993 hit “American Jesus”, a song which slams the role of religion in this country, leaving no doubt that using Christ as a weapon against the poor, foreigners, and as a way to pad bank accounts, is never what it was supposed to be about. A bit of a piss-take, a bit of a nod to their earliest musical influences, Christmas Songs is a fast, exciting take on our oldest holiday standards. CrypticRock gives this album 4 out of 5 stars.
- Epitaph Records
Written by Nicholas Franco
){kind=link}
No comment