A Christmas Gift For You

2019

Once again, I am spotlighting the three garage rock collections released more than 20 years ago by Midnight Records, a label and retail store in New York City. The series started with the magnificent A Midnight Christmas Mess (1984), continued with A Midnight Christmas Mess Again!! (1986), and concluded with It's Midnight Xmess Part III (1987). I previously shared tracks from these albums in 2017 and 2018.

Why am I returning to the same well for a third straight year? First, I am lazy. Second, time is short. And third, the Midnight Christmas series is a very deep well, with 25 of its 41 tracks qualifying as essential listening for lovers of hip Christmas music - and the rest aren't too shabby. For collectors, the sad truth is that the Midnight Christmas albums have never been reissued in any shape, form, or fashion after their initial vinyl run was exhausted. Now, they've become something of a Holy Grail for those same collectors. Despite such scarcity, the Midnight Christmas albums arguably helped kicked off the annual deluge of punk, alternative, and indie rock Christmas songs that we now enjoy (or endure, depending on your perspective). Maybe these pages will help raise their profile. In the meantime, let's rock!

Dogmatics, X'mas Time (It Sure Doesn't Feel Like It) (1984)
The Boston-based Dogmatics were formed by twins Peter and Paul O'Halloran, and they had already released a single, "Gimme The Shakes" (1983), and an album, Thayer St. (1984), when they recorded "X'mas Time" as a one-off for A Midnight Christmas Mess. As much as any track in the series, "X'mas Time" reflects the broad impact Bob Dylan had on garage rock, despite the fact that the Dogmatics usually trended towards a much grittier sound. Played on acoustic guitars and cataloging workingman travails, "X'mas Time" is a near textbook protest song, though the boys go out of their way to drop Beantown references into the mix (Kenmore Square, Filene's Basement, Boston Common). The Dogmatics would record one more album, Everybody Does It (1986), and then be sidelined when Paul O'Halloran died that year in a motorcycle accident. The band would eventually play again with Paul's brothers Jimmy and Johnny filling his shoes. Vagrant Records released a compilation, 1981-86, in 1998, and in 2019 the Dogmatics released their first new music in over 30 years, a three-song EP called She's The One.

Cheepskates, Star (1986)
Last year, while researching the Midnight Christmas series, I discovered that a German label called Music Maniac had reissued the Cheepskates' 1984 album Run Better Run on CD, and it contained as bonus tracks the band's two tracks from the first Midnight Christmas album, "Christmas Time With You" (which I had already shared) and "Last Minute Rush" (which I hadn't). But, the Cheepskates were the only band to have three tracks on the Midnight Christmas series, and the third, "Star" from A Midnight Christmas Mess Again!! (1986), has never been reissued in a digital format. Led by singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Shane Faubert, the NYC-based Cheepskates were a kinder and gentler band than most in the Midnight stable - closer to what we now call "sunshine pop" than garage rock. "Star," in particular, is very pretty - but deceptively so. At its core, it's a gloomy tale of unrequited love, albeit one cloaked in winter and Christmas imagery. Moreover, it builds to a thrilling climax driven by swirling, psychedelic guitars played by Faubert and lead guitarist Larry Lozier- much akin to what Dave Roback was up on the west coast with Rain Parade and, later, Opal and Mazzy Star.

The Brood, One Winter's Night (1987)
The liner notes of It's Midnight Xmess Part III describes the Brood as an "all cave girls band," and that describes their line-up, look, and sound pretty accurately. Formed in 1983, the band had only recorded a few tracks by 1987, and the same liner notes promise a new Midnight LP - but that never happened. Instead, the band would release their debut, In Spite Of It All (1988), on Get Hip Records and go on to record for several labels including Estrus and Dionysus through about 2000 - which is quite a lengthy career in the rarified world of garage rock revivalism. Anyway, the Brood hailed from Portland, Maine, and were led by imposing singer/guitarist Chris Horne. That said, with "One Winter's Night" she spins a fairly innocent tale of romance, albeit one set to a driving beat, fuzz guitars, and howling harmonica. The night is cold and lonely, but then Horne actually finds a boy under her tree on Christmas morning! "Dear Santa Claus," she concludes, "he's the best thing I ever got."

Gorehounds, Yuh, Xmess (1987)
The Gorehounds were yet another band from Portland, Maine, and they took their name seriously. Their only album was called Halloween Everywhere (1987), and they released only one additional single, "Necrosis" (1986), both on Alien Cactus Records. Their contribution to the Midnight Christmas series, "Yuh, Xmess," was written by their rhythm guitarist, Bob Cellar, who also played the electric jug - which quite explicitly connects them to the 13th Floor Elevators, the Texan icons of psychedelic garage rock. As for "Yuh, Xmess," it's a headlong rush of a song. To start with, it sounds like someone hit 'record' a little too late, but then the guitars start to yowl, and singer Jordan Kratz begins to decry everything wrong with the holiday season. It starts too early, the malls are crowded, and he "don't wanna buy no fake silver tree." The bottom line? "They're using Christmas to rob you and me." Hard to argue with that.

Woofing Cookies, Santa Ain't Santa (1986)
Unlike most of the bands on Midnight Records, the story of the Woofing Cookies is easy to suss out. That's because Len Vlahos, guitarist for New York-based garage rockers, became an accomplished author later in life. In fact, his first novel, The Scar Boys (2014), was largely inspired by his experiences in the band. The press Vlahos did for the book (especially an online article he penned himself) explains the rest. Vlahos dropped out of college in 1985 to join the Woofing Cookies. The band embarked on a DIY tour, only to have their van break down, stranding them in Athens, Georgia, where they settled into a house across the street from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. The boys worked up the nerve to ask Buck to produce their next single and, to their eternal amazement, he said yes!

The recording, "In The City," got the Woofing Cookies signed to Midnight Records, and the label released both the single and the Woofing Cookies' only long-player, Horse Gum Tortilla Shoes, in 1986. ("We needed a name for the record that was actually dumber than the name of the band," explains Vlahos). "Santa Ain't Santa" appeared on A Midnight Christmas Mess Again!! later that year, and it's one of the better-written songs in the whole Midnight Christmas series. Sounding a lot like early Doors or Creedence, the song paints a harrowing portrait of the man Santa Claus has become, with a denouement far more gory than even its menacing tone would foreshadow. Singer Joe Loskywitz explains that Kris Kringle doesn't deliver toys anymore. In fact, he steals them. And, he's got the switchblade to back it up. In fact, he murders Joe's parents! "Do you know what it's like to wake up on Christmas morning and find dismembered body parts all strewn across your living room?" he asks. Well, no, but thanks for asking!

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