As a sucker for a decent holiday album, I was all in for this collection of traditional & new seasonal fare from a wide assortment of psychedelic rock acts & artists. I mean, it's something different right? We've heard plenty of Christmas crooning over the years, and even the heavy metal world has come to the party in recent years, so why not a psychedelic holiday affair? Well, Cleopatra Records has done just that, and assembled a fun little collection of trippy holiday ditties from a host of bands that I'm sure few have heard of, but that's what makes this set all the more intriguing and enjoyable.
Take a look below at the lengthy track list of Psych-Out Christmas and you'll really only see one well known name, and that is Iggy Pop, with the rest being acts from the underground psych and indie scenes. No matter, as there are a good amount of fun renditions here of old holiday favorites, like the bubbling, spaced out version of "Silent Night" by Quintron & Miss Pussycat (doing their best Ozric Tentacles/Hawkwind impersonation), Sleepy Sun's awesome, dreamy "What Child is This?", complete with endearing synth washes, a real '60s ride on "Time of the Season" with Sons of Hippies (ok, technically not a holiday tune), and a spooky take on "Little Drummer Boy" by The Movements, complete with sitar and ominous church organ. Quintron & Miss Pussycat thankfully come back for seconds with a lively "Jingle Bell Rock", chock full of organ, synths, and programmed drums, and The Candy Store delivers "Frosty the Snowman" in fine 1967 styled fashion. Loud, jangly electric guitars come out for Psychic Ills' version of "Run Rudolph Run", and He 5 also crank out the guitars for a surf/psych take on "Jingle Bells". And, let's not forget the Stooges main man Iggy who groans and moans through a dreamy rendition of "White Christmas", and the band Elephant Stone do a great job on the Beatles "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", complete with sitars and layers of dreamy vocals.
A few of the original pieces here are fun too, especially the melancholic "Jul Song" from the Dark Horses, the bluesy holiday guitar rock of "Christmas Tears" by Eli Cook, a rousing "Santa Claus" by the Fuzztones (sounding a bit like very early Rolling Stones), and The Cosmonauts' fun piece "It's Christmas Day". Overall it's all a lot of fun, and certainly something different to pop in over the holidays, though I'm kind of surprised that Cleopatra didn't get former Hawkwind eccentric Nik Turner involved in this somehow contributing a song, vocals, sax, or flute somewhere. He's been popping up all over the place lately and it almost seemed a perfect fit for him to make an appearance.
Track Listing
SIDE A
1. Intro - Christmas Monster Party
2. Christmas Time (Is Here Again) - Elephant Stone
3. It s Christmas Day - The Cosmonauts
4. Silent Night - Quintron & Miss Pussycat
5. Jul Song - Dark Horses
6. What Child Is This? - Sleepy Sun
7. No More Christmas Blues - The Vacant Lots
8. Time of the Season - Sons of Hippies
9. Santa Claus - The Fuzztones
SIDE B
1. Christmas Tears - Eli Cook
2. Little Drummer Boy - The Movements
3. Jingle Bell Rock - Quintron & Miss Pussycat
4. Frosty The Snowman - The Candy Store
5. Run Rudolph Run - Psychic Ills
6. Mele Kalikimaka - Dead Meadow
7. Jingle Bells - HE 5
8. White Christmas (Guitar Stooge Version) - Iggy Pop