Last year, local Indie Rock band The Western curated a tasty holiday EP for local music fans dubbed Yay! Presents!, featuring Christmas song contributions from Pete Dressman (who’s playing Jefferson Hall Christmas night), Frontier Folk Nebraska, The Turkeys, members of Alone at 3 a.m. and Rob Barnes, formerly of Junior Revolution and currently of now-Nashville-based Slow Claw. This week, the group unveiled the sequel, Hooray! Gifts!, which, like its predecessor, is available for free download.—-
Though this year’s EP gift is a little bit smaller at just four tracks (hey, there’s a recession), it’s still another solid, unique collection. Hooray’s participants also all appeared on the inaugural installment. The Western provide a minimal yet still somehow hearty version of The Pretenders’ “2000 Miles,” Barnes is back, this time with an atmospheric take on Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas,” State Song drummer Justin Sheldon (who played with Barnes on the first edition) shakes things up with an all-too-rare Hip Hop yuletime carol, “Secret Santa,” and Frontier Folk Nebraska smokes on the dirty, raucous, rockin’ “Ho Ho Ho and Away We Go,” which sounds like the best Christmas song Pete Yorn never recorded.
Download the collection here. And don’t forget to send a “thank you” card, you self-absorbed bastard. Or you can thank The Western in person Wednesday night at the Northside Tavern when they join Incline District and Low Hanging Wires for a free show.
