Merry Xmas Pt. 2

Artist: The Walkmen
Album: Bows + Arrows

If I were throwing a Christmas party, I would have this album play in the background. This album really ought to be called Christmas With the Walkmen. It's the soundtrack for an urban Christmas. Outside of the obvious references in song titles ("No Christmas While I'm Talking", "The North Pole", and "New Year's Eve"), the album just sounds like this time of year. It's a winter album, no doubt about that. Even "The Rat", for all its angst, sounds like the perfect score for a lovers' spat on Christmas Eve. It's about rushing home to be with someone, and it's about being lonely. At times loud and at times gentle, it just feels right to me near the end of December. Hell, there are even sleigh bells.

I was listening to the album one night on the train a couple weeks ago; the car was pretty empty and snow was falling. It doesn't get much better than that.

Most Christmas-y song: "Thinking of a Dream"

Listen here.