Turns out Erasure isn’t the only group delivering a new holiday record this year: Long-running Southern California punk kings Bad Religion will put a decidedly rougher spin on seasonal classics like “Hark! The Herald Angles Sing” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” next month with the release of the aptly titled Christmas Songs album.
Due out Oct. 29 on Epitaph Records, the set features eight classic Christmas carols — including “Little Drummer Boy,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “White Christmas” — plus an album-closing mix of “American Jesus,” off the band’s 1993 album Recipe for Hate, by producer Andy Wallace.
As Epitaph puts it:
Bad Religion have threatened to record an album of seasonal classics for years, and now they’ve gone and done it, tackling eight chestnuts in their classic punk rock style. From “White Christmas” with its nod to pioneers The Ramones, to the glorious choirboy intro to “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Christmas Songs is the record you need to get your holiday household’s toes tapping. Nothing says Christmas like Bad Religion.
See full tracklist below:
Tracklist: Bad Religion, Christmas Songs
1. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
2. “O Come All Ye Faithful”
3. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
4. “White Christmas”
5. “Little Drummer Boy”
6. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
7. “What Child Is This?”
8. “Angels We Have Heard On High”
9. “American Jesus” (Andy Wallace Mix)
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
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Hmm, so no re-release of “The First Noel” or the live on KROQ version of “Silent Night” that goes into “Nervous Breakdown”? Pity, in a way. Have ’em, sure, but it would be nice to have them all on one disc. Will likely buy and burn onto a single one. Wonder if they’ll keep the lyrics as “God Rest Ye, Jerry Mental Man.”
I’d like to believe they are taking a piss out of Christiancentric winter holiday corporate commercialism…. But I know its just a shitty cash grab.
I will buy anything BR puts out…except this.
I think it’s a hilarious juxtapose between traditional “Christmas” tunes and what BR has always stood for. Definite purchase for me.