Christmas: a time for festive lights, overly decorated trees, presents, hoards of people making a Christmas gift dash, and those bloody carols that play repeatedly, making you want to pull your hair out every time you enter a shop.

At this time of year that hatred can also extend to the many Christmas CDs that begin to grace the store shelves. The idea of Punk Goes Christmas, a punk compilation of Christmas tunes, may also deter many.

However, due to the expected heavy nature and the lack of continuous jingles and typical Christmas sounding melodies on the record, the tracks are actually bearable to listen to.

As with all of the CDs in the Punk Goes series, there is a list of famous names including Yellowcard, All Time Low, and New Found Glory.

The record is more than just track after track of covers. Four original songs are featured, including New Found Glory’s ‘Nothing For Christmas’, All Time Low’s ‘Fool’s Holiday’, Jason Lancaster’s ‘All I Can Give You’, and The Ready Set’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You’.

It also has your heartbreak Christmas songs ‘I Had A Heart’ and ‘There Will Be No Christmas’, something you don’t usually hear on a CD that is meant to be about joyful festivities. However, the mix has a few disappointing moments, such as Man Overboard’s ‘Father Christmas’.

If you’re not usually a Christmas carol fan but you do enjoy a punk sound, or if you simply want to spice up your Christmas collection, this one may take your fancy.

Listen to ‘Nothing For Christmas’ here:

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine