Well, this is a surprise. Not so much that the Sunderland band should do a Christmas album, mind. Despite their raw and spiky hardcore framework, which channelled heavyweights like Gang Of Four and Fugazi, they were always capable of being gentle, dreamlike, flirting with but never tipping over into the whimsical, as on their huge breakthrough cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love”. And maybe even more relevantly, their harmony singing bordered on the choral from the start, something made explicit on their a capella reworking folk songs and their own work on their 2012 Rant album.
No, it’s not a surprise that they’d do this, or do it well. But it to be this good? For the pacing, the fit of the arrangements to the songs, the ability to do the unexpected with a twinkle in the eye without being arch – everything – to be so bang on that it feels like you’ve known the album for a long time on first listen? That really is a turn up for the books. The opening “Carol of the Bells” sets the tone very precisely, played and sung with great respect but entirely as The Futureheads; “Don’t Stop the Cavalry” ties things back to their postpunk inspirations – and from there on in, the mix of carols, seasonal hits and curveballs, rounding off with two of their own compositions feels like one coherent whole.
In fact, this easy blend reminds us how much Lewie, Macca, Sinatra and of course The Pretenders have to all intents and purposes made secular carols – and even the jumpy, wordy “What’s This?” from The Nightmare Before Christmas is a nod to how much film musicals on TV are etched into the rituals of the season now. The indie-ness of it all, which could so easily have made into kooky “6 Music Dad stocking filler” material, is transcended – as the band always has done, in fact – by their stunning playing, understanding of one another’s voices, and clear relish in what they’re doing. It’s a fantastic signal that the band are not just outstanding among their 00s post punk revival peers, but are, frankly, national treasures.
Listen to "The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years":
