Independent
It’s always bound to happen at this time: the inevitable holiday parody. Aside from the obvious songs like Spinal Tap’s Christmas With The Devil I’ve heard many over the years, some obligatory, some memorable. A web search revealed more of the same, though some still stand out like one by the Nihilistics. As The Snowflakes Fell is naturally closer to the bah-humbug variety of holiday tribute songs (King Diamond, Fear, Denis Leary, Eric Idle), which given December’s consumer madness is a welcome diversion from the traditional saccharine-sweet sentiment we’re subjected to like clockwork. This is not to say I despise the holidays for those of you who deliberately take people’s words out of context and start arguments to get attention, but rather the corporate greed it generates besides the average consumer’s obsession to keep up with the Joneses when said holidays come around. To quote Bill Zebub in his indie feature Dirtbags: “We don’t need one day of the year to have a reason to be nice to each other.” That being clarified, the brand new Elefantkiller single Santa Brought Me Coke is a holiday diversion I appreciated for its obvious drug reference and analogy between snow and cocaine. It has doubtless surfaced in many minds, and the band makes full use of the “if snow was coke” fantasy. Their Megadeth-meets-Suicidal Tendencies-meets-Fear thrash-hardcore crossover (or speed punk as they refer to it) makes for a theme reflecting the appeal of D.R.I. and Gang Green and the like. More band comparisons but they seemed appropriate here, especially where the narration is concerned. The first verse rap and the coke-hazed vocals in the chorus sound like a demented take on Mike Muir’s performance in Instituionalized. To make one more comparison, there is a section in the middle where the vocals reminded me somewhat of Paul Bearer’s attempt at singing on the Sheer Terror classics Ashes, Ashes and Burning Time. The whimsical tone intended for the song is clear from the bells at the start to the guitar riffs written for the verses and chorus to the atmospheric solo. If you check this cut out and want to hear more, the band is completing work on their new album Supersonic Blow Machine which is planned for release next year. -Dave Wolff
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