Five new holiday songs you should already be listening to

If you’ve had enough of the carols and the classics – if you have grown tired of the well-worn tales of Frosty and Rudolph – if you no longer care whether Santa will be bringing Clarence a new saxophone, or whether Patty Donahue will ever hook up with that guy from “Christmas Wrapping" - I’m here to offer you five brand-spanking-new holiday songs for you to test drive.

They cover a wide range of styles and tastes. Something sure to please everyone on your list.

Well, we can assume. Anything could upset anyone. But I hope these don't.

"Christmastime" - Straight No Chaser

Straight No Chaser has been cranking out a cappella Christmas tunes for the past fifteen years. The Indiana University boys began in Bloomington in the late ‘90s and have been recording and performing professionally since 2008. Their specialty – clean harmonies and witty takes on classics, or on whatever catches their ear.

This year’s tunes are featured on their Stocking Stuffer EP and the best of the lot are a pretty funny consideration of Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like,” reworked here as “Christmas Like,” with a “slice of fruitcake, on the side too – sliced ham, canned yams, yo I got you.”

And for those of you most classically-inclined, a manic take on Edward Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King,” now simply called “Christmastime.” It begin slowly with traditional imagery and good will, but in the course of about two minutes will take us through the historical story and the current practices, complete with popular Christmas movies, gastro-intestinal challenges, and of course, crass commercialism. My favorite moment comes in the trip to the mall where…

“Propping kinds upon his lap – ‘smile, kid’ – cameras snap – Watch as Susie screams in fear, Christmas card tears.”