Text by @KralTunes
By this point in the holiday season, it is damn near impossible to escape the audio assault of festive Christmas music. Every corner of every block has it blaring from the rafters. What makes it even more nauseating is the fact that you only hear like 3,827 versions of 12 different songs each year. That’s why when I actually hear a good NEW Christmas song, my ears perk up a little bit. With that, I present to you Marian Call’s holiday offering, Yippee Ki Yay.
Featuring songs from Marian’s Alaskan wintertime show, there is an interesting mix of traditional and off kilter comedic tunes spread throughout the E.P’s 27 minutes. Traditional holiday songs like ‘Magnificat’ and ‘Ave Maria’ are beautifully sung, proving Ms. Call has some serious chops. She even nails a traditional German Christmas ditty, “Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen”, in German, no less.
This album turns on a dime like it has the worst case of A.D.D. in recorded history. One minute you’re in church for midnight mass, the next you’re at the local dive bar on Lexington Ave. @ 2 in the morning swapping tales with the local crazies while tunes like ‘Christmas in L.A.’ are being sung in the back. The track that initially lured me to this release calls out from that dive bar and will now forever be a staple in my Christmas playlist. This song inspired a couple of WHO questions and one HOW one:
(A) Who doesn’t like a ‘DIE HARD’ themed Christmas song?
(B) How has no one ever thought of this idea before??
(C) Who doesn’t get any pleasure out of belting “Yippee Ki Yay, mother fucker, it’s Christmas in L.A.’ ?
Marion Call’s clever sense of humor is also showcased; ‘Princess Cupcake’ offers up a sarcastic view of the rugged, tough lives of princesses, while ‘The Last Song on the World’ provides us the soundtrack to the coming apocalypse. Then the really old school ‘Hey for Christmas’ closes out the holiday party in a traditional fashion with tales of drunkedness and debauchery that one can only be found in a 17th century tune.
After years of the same tired songs, and enduring the torture of listening to contemporary attempts to craft the perfect holiday song, this woman has singlehandedly restored my faith that humanity can still craft new Christmas tunes that I can enjoy for years to come. Now all we (I) need is a GREMLINS Christmas song and my ultimate holiday playlist will be complete (Hint, Hint, Ms. Call).
This live E.P. was offered for free on her bandcamp page.
Tonight at Dawn 