Album Review: Various - 'Punk Goes Christmas'

14 November 2013 | 10:54 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Some good, some bad, some average.

Punk goes christmas...


It’s hard to tell if the ‘Punk Goes…’ brand is more famous or more notorious among listeners? Some people absolutely hate the series for being “stupid” and “boring”. But other people dig it for its fun and enjoyable take on mainstream and classic songs. With the series having had some pretty poor releases (‘Punk Goes Pop 1 & 2 and ‘Punk Goes 80’s’) and some rather great ones (‘Punk Goes Pop 5’), you never know what to expect from them, which is both a good and a bad thing. So, just how does ‘Punk Goes Christmas’ fair?
 

Nothing for Christmas’ by New Found Glory is an atypical pop-punk track albeit a bit toned down with acoustic guitars being at the forefront. But, it’s a great, catchy, fun and upbeat track. A good start. All time Low’s Fool’s Holiday’ is an All Time Low song. A great pop-punk track showcasing the band’s solid beats and slick riffs as well as front man Alex Gaskarath’s impressive vocals. Enough said.

Real Friend’s take the cake with their emo-inspired pop-punk tune, ‘I Had a Heart’. Seriously, these guys never fail at delivering feels. The song feels like a throwback to the Saves the Day era with its upbeat yet emotional and confessional lyrical appeal. It’s just like a Real Friends song based around the blues of Christmas.
 

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In contrast, Man Overboard do a poor job of ‘Father Christmas’. The song is boring and really bland, and unoriginal. Not the stand out pop-punk that they have delivered over their career, that’s for sure. It’s more like a 90’s rock song…done badly.


The Summer Set
bring the jolly with ‘This Christmas’! While, Crown the Empire are clearly the biggest letdown on here. Being possibly one of the best up-and-coming melodic-hardcore bands they really fail to bring out there true colours on ‘There Will Be No Christmas’. 

Yellowcard don't fail, which is more than you can say for 'Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays'. The ISSUES song is utter shit. It is beyond stupid. Hearing Michael Bohn waste his beautiful screams on the lyrics “Merry Christmas…” is just enough to make you skip the track. It’s jumpy and just poorly written. 


The rest of the compilation just seems to go through the motions. It's symptomatic of these types of releases. There's good, bad and everything in between. These cover records contain more curiosity than substance.
 

To round it up, there are some appealing songs on here yet there are also some bad ones. Like any ‘Punk Goes…’ album, when the songs are good, they entertain. But, when they’re bad, they are simply terible. And if they’re neither of those, then they’re just average songs that you have on your computer that won’t make a playlist anytime soon. It’s definitely not the best release in the series but it is by no means the worse.

  1.  Nothing For Christmas
  2. Fool's Holiday
  3. I Had a Heart
  4. Father Christmas 
  5. This Christmas
  6. There Will Be No Christmas
  7. Christmas Lights 
  8. Merry Christmas 
  9. All I Can Give You 
  10. I Don't Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You
  11. This Christmas (I'll Burn It To The Ground)
  12. Do You Hear What I Hear?