Album of the Week 3

Merry Christmas Baby Jesus

the second coming 1

1994

Sympathy for the Record Industry

(Although the first volume looks better, I went with the second coming because of the El Vez track and the white vinyl)

This came out tens years after A Midnight Christmas Mess but suffers with the same problem. Like a vast majority of compilation albums (and group shows for that matter) most of the work is just okay, but the gems make up for it. It’s kind of sad in this mp3 era that kids can buy single songs and don’t have to buy entire albums just to wade through the crap so they can get to the one song they like. Actually it’s not that sad, but they do miss out on a song growing on you.

El Vez’s Feliz Navi-nada is the stand out. A really wonderful mash up of Feliz Navidad and Public Image. The Supersuckers “We’ll Call it Christmas” and the Muffs “Nothing for me” make me nostalgic for that grungy ironic angst. The surf bands (Man or Astroman, Bomboras and Go Nuts)hold things together and put in really strong efforts, with the Go Nuts Snackin’ Santa being the weirdest and best.