For the past few years, the Parenthetical Girls have released Holiday EPs, the first of which had a pretty awesome version of “Last Christmas.” (This year’s EP has a track called “Last Christmas part 2,” but they say it’s related to the original only by name, so we’re not going to post it.) At the Parenthetical Girls site, you can find a few more Christmas gems and songs from their other releases as well. I’m not sure how to best describe how engaging their music is, so I’ll let Pitchfork help me out: “Xiu Xiu fans hungry for the new nervousness would do well to seek out the work of … Zac Pennington’s Parenthetical Girls, for a strong dose of panic-pop.” Panic pop? Ok, sounds good to me.

Well, we had the great pleasure to see the Parenthetical Girls when they came through town a month or so ago. Lead singer Zac Pennington took a minute and talked to us about his version and his love for holiday music in general, and then somehow we convinced him to give us a hand with today’s reviews. He got a good day, too; today is the second time that all the tracks win the Magical Snowflake Award. These are all so amazing.

Take it away, Zac!


Parenthetical Girls – Last Christmas

I am frankly pretty embarrassed by our rendition of what was at the time my favorite Christmas song. Recorded with incredible haste when I was fighting a cold, the one saving grace of this recording is the nostalgic swoon I still get during the ARP Odyssey outro at the end there. It’s ultimately pretty forgettable, which is a shame considering that the Wham! rendition is without a doubt the ultimate holiday signifier for me.



Cheekyboy – Last Christmas

The ghost of Christmas past brings with him an incredibly harsh fake-out: though this Biggie Smalls mash-up begins with the inconceivably brilliant suggestion of a “Last Christmas”/”Suicidal Thoughts” unified front, it quickly devolves into Sean Combs’ super weak cash-in “I’ll Be Missin’ You”. It mostly recovers with the “Juicy” coda, but that beat match is maybe a little too Alvin and the Chipmunks—which I guess is appropriate, considering the season. All in all, a good effort.

This is from the all downloadable “Santastic” mix available here.



Villancicos de Chocolate – Last Christmas

My favorite rendition of the lot by a long shot—appropriately garish synths, digital piano, Spanish guitar, Spanish language, and that BEAT DROP (!)…Andrew Ridgeley would be too proud.



The Smurfs – Last Christmas

I recently watched the vast majority of the Smurfs Christmas special on Youtube, and was surprised to face a number of troubling uncertainties that only now seem questionable (foremost—what the fuck was up with Gargamel, anyway?). The trouble with this song, on the other hand, is crystal clear straight out of the gates: not a single “Smurfed” lyric to speak of. On second thought, maybe Igwad was covering this version.



The Boss Hoss – Last Christmas

Fairly straight cover done by a fairly straight cover band—all in a palatable Southern drawl. Did I mention that they’re German? Irreverent!


IGwAD – Last Christmas

Though I gotta dock points for a number of glaring lyrical missteps, this Baltimore band succeeds in unexpected ways—the way your weird drunk cousin singing off-rhythm living room Christmas karaoke might. Which is to say: pretty successful. There are plenty more goodies on their site too.

HQ here: We’d also like to add a note about their band name: It’s short for Indian Guy with American Dreams. But not in the sense that he’s from India and strives for the typical ambitions of America; rather, it’s more like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but where the lead singer is an Indian guy, and the rest of the band is called American Dreams. And no, Tom Petty never covered “Last Christmas.”


Now I have to step back into my role as commentator, since we had to add the next few versions at the last minute. The sheer amount of tracks keeps growing and growing, and we want to get them all out by Christmas. But I want to say thank-you again to Zac! I don’t think we can stress how thankful we are for your help! Again, dear reader, make sure you go to the Parenthetical Girls site and read about the band and their recent tour and check out more holiday songs.


Mutsuhiro Nishiwaki – Last Christmas

Mutsuhiro is amazing! He makes music box renditions of songs, from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the Neverending Story theme to… well… Wham! He even does a version of “Careless Whisper.”

You can find more Christmas music box songs at his itunes page.



The Revolvers – Last Christmas

Of the punk versions we’ve posted, this is truly the punkest of the pack. It’s fast, it’s loud and it’s not afraid to punk you in the face. Guess what? They’re German too!


Alex Montez Y Centerfold – Last Christmas

This is possibly the earliest cover we could find, coming from Alex Montez and Centerfold in 1989. The band isn’t around anymore, so it was tough to find info on them, but they’re definitely Spanish. And if my four years of high school Spanish haven’t failed me, I think it’s the closest translation we’ve posted to the original.

And jellyfish karaoke?…