Few people have a purely neutral attitude toward holiday music. It seems there is no moderate opinion on what dominates the radio, days after Thanksgiving. People either love it or they would rather sit in complete silence until January download lagu.
Only exacerbating the problem is the fact that the majority of the music played in December is disproportionately from older eras and traditionally slower and slightly overdramatic, or it’s been modernized into a pristine generic pop song. For those who don’t enjoy that type of music the other eleven months of the year, holiday music’s dedication to annoyingly bright melodies can leave punks celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah feeling musically neglected.
If you typically despise the repetition of the same ten holiday songs, these alternatives might be what you need to tolerate your family and friends’ seasonal cheery obsession.
And for those celebrating Kwanzaa, this list, unfortunately, wasn’t able to give as much attention to alternative-styled Kwanzaa pieces. However, The Houston Press has a series of songs describing the holiday definitely worth checking out
Yidcore is an ’80s Australian Jewish punk band that experimented with satirical political commentary and ridiculous performance gimmicks, including a rubber chicken named Scrambles. The band released an EP titled The Adam Sandler EP in 2003, fueling a feud that grew out of Sandler’s refusal to let the band perform his own “The Chanukkah song.” Regardless of whatever Sandler intended, Yidcore added their own coarse parody to their EP, which lists Jewish musicians involved in the punk scene instead of generic actors and comedians. The Yidcore music video showcases an authoritative caricature of Adam Sandler along with Santa roasting a reindeer over an open fire.
The Misfits’ cover of “Blue Christmas” has become a punk holiday favorite. Their version, with break-neck electric guitar replacing the sleepier acoustic instrumentals of the famous Elvis Presley version, has been cemented firmly in punk’s wheelhouse. And even though the vocals sound possibly more mocking, the song maintains the original’s sorrowful message about a missing holiday love interest, but not to the same whiny extent as Presley’s.