If you’ve ever worked retail in December, there’s just something about anti-Christmas songs that are so appealing. Sick of hearing Wham!, Mariah Carey and Michael Buble for the millionth time over the company radio station, there’s definitely an allure to tunes that possess a certain Yuletide cynicism. Bah, Humbug!
From Blink 182’s ‘Won’t Be Home For Christmas’ to The Waitresses’ ‘Christmas Wrapping’, you can’t beat a guitar anthem that pours scorn on the festive period whilst simultaneously embracing the cheery sound of the period.
The Lathums have followed this tradition with their first Christmas song, ‘Krampus’. The subject of the single threatens to chuck a bucket of cold snow over your crispy, winter fireplace, though, for fans of indie, it’s another witty Christmas track for us to get on board with.
The skiffle-inspired song is just so much fun that you can’t help but singalong and get in the festive period whilst doing so! It combines the band’s familiar jangle pop style with a skiffle-beat, ensuring an instant toe-tapping indie Christmas classic.
The idea for ‘Krampus’ came around from the first lockdown in 2020. During one rehearsal, Johnny Cunliffe played a festive sounding bassline and thus inspired the creation of a Christmas song with a twist.
Soon after, frontman Alex Moore learned about a horned creature called Krampus on a BBC Inside No.9 Christmas special, believing him to be a suitable character for a song. In Alpine tradition, Krampus scares badly behaved children before Christmas and, quite frankly, from the images I’ve seen on a quick Google search, he looks absolutely terrifying.
And thus, the Wigan band bring some darkness to a season full of cheer. The contrast between the upbeat music and the bleak angle works wonderfully, with Alex Moore warning in the first verse, “You’d better not cheat and you’d better not cry / And you’d better not lie, I’m telling you why / Santa ain’t coming this year”.
Speaking about the motivation behind releasing the track, Alex Moore said in a press release:
“I am not a massive Christmas fan, but always eventually get my paper hat on and join in the fun, I can’t help it. After the year we’ve had we’ve got so much cause to celebrate, so this single is one last ‘thank you’ to everyone that’s supported us for the year. See you all, even bigger and better, in 2022”
The Wigan band, fresh from success with their debut album How Beautiful Life Can Be (which I reviewed on my Blinded by the Floodlights site), may sing about Christmas being cancelled, but they’ve given us a fantastic track bound to be blasted by many an indie fan to get them in the festive mood. It has definitely worked for me.
If there’s any justice in the music world, this will be a strong contender for Christmas number 1.
Words by Matthew McLister