The Thousands

Just so you know, Christmas is less about painfully forced family rituals and more about filling a bloated post festive lunch paunch with beer until you’re pissed, then passed out on a floor you won’t recognise in the morning. The guys at Dada Records get it, thus capturing the true spirit of Jesus’ birthday with the ‘Batman Smells’ compilation. It features a bunch of local bands performing their versions of the good ol’ Xmas carol, plus some other random shit.

Dirty psych-blues duo Allbrook Avery have their version of ‘O Christmas Tree’ that involves repeating the title over and over again above a fuzzed-out racket. A brilliantly unquiet version of ‘Silent Night’ comes from trash-punk bogans Frozen Ocean, while the only thing ‘Christmassy’ about prog-noise oufit Water Temple’s song ‘Christmas in Hellis’ is its name. Then there’s bands like Golden Staph and Kurbist Gong Band doing songs that are off-topic but for them familiar, while Pauline Manson wins the prize for telling it like it is in opener: “Christmas time is here, someone get me a beer.” That’s the spirit.