J. D. McPherson – Socks (2018), the Best Christmas Album of the Decade

Do you think Socks is another boring Christmas album? After all, all English-speaking rockers know the old proven recipe – do you want commercial success? So record a New Year’s record! That’s why I didn’t have any illusions, including the “new J.D. McPherson.” But I realized right away, it’s a pretty funny thing, this album with such a stupid name. He’s very swing, rockabilly and bouncy in the best traditions of early JD. The previous CD, Undivided Heart and Soul, marked Jonathan’s departure in the 60s. So Socks sounds like you’re back in the 50s. Or in childhood.

In the early 2000s, Brian Setzer and his megalomaniac big band became an innovator in the field of Christmas songs, rolling around the planet with a New Year’s program, releasing CDs Christmas Rocks and Christmas Comes Alive and concert videos like Christmas Extravaganza. It was not easy to compete with Brian Robertovich in this fiefdom with his virtuoso mastery of the guitar, and anyway, Don’t Mess With A Big Band. But as time went on, it became clear to everyone that BSO’s arrangements didn’t change much from year to year.

J.D. McPherson has moved away from the standards of Christmas albums with cover versions of well-known songs, recording his brand new material instead. First of all, he made a rock and roll album that successfully harmonizes with the winter Christmas theme. This is not a dozen old roasted chestnuts, there are 11 brand new songs here. The lack of cliches and challenge is primarily the name of the album, Socks, which is very strange and at the same time humorous in a hooligan way. The guys experimented with the sound, trying to make something more modern, but these themes themselves began to sound like they should: minimalistic and authentic, in the spirit of the old school of the fifties.

All The Gifts I Need is a slight nostalgia for childhood, liver and parental home. Bad Kid is about someone who behaved badly in the old year. Hey Skinny Santa is such a peppy swing about skinny Santa on the theme of Hey Good Lookin’. Socks is a funny theatrical blues, so you shake a closed box and don’t hear anything there, socks are like the worst gift “Santa, how could you? You let me down so much…” Every Single Christmas is a cheerful love song. Ugly Sweater Blues – “Mom, please don’t put that ugly sweater on me, I look like a fool in it.” Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy is a song about the unchanging attributes of Christmas, all in order. Santa’s Got A Mean Machine – when Santa traded his sleigh for a hot rod. What’s That Sound? “What’s that sound?” It’s Christmas time! Claus Vs Claus is a duet with Lucy Silvas as Santa’s wife, the couple is sorting things out, Mr. Claus is very busy, but his work is impossible without the efforts of Mrs. Claus.

And all this cool sound is the signature sound of the J.D. McPherson band. The album is rich in instruments. In addition to those always used by the band, there is also a baritone and slide guitar and a xylophone (glockenspiel). On the recording, the Giardinaires vocal trio (homage to the Jordanaires) help to sing.

So if the New Year’s mood hasn’t caught up with you yet, turn on your Socks and enjoy! And just try not to dance or smile. It’s impossible.