Pistol Annies – Hell of a Holiday – Gold Vinyl LP

Comes on gold colored vinyl LP.

Many artists seem content to knock out festive albums with a series of cookie-cutter cover versions, but that simply isn’t the style of gal pal supergroup the Pistol Annies. On their first Christmas record, the trio have rolled up their sleeves and shared 10 original tunes and three strikingly different covers, each giving their 360-degree view of all the ups and downs of the season. If you’re going to conjure up some new holiday songs, then ‘Snow Globe’ and the title track provide a solid mission statement. On ‘Hell Of A Holiday’ they channel their inner Dolly Parton with the feel of a swinging 50s song. Propelled by handclaps, ‘Snow Globe’ foregrounds a sassy sax solo.

The mood switches back and forth across the album. Twinkly piano, Hawaiian guitar stylings and jokily tongue-in-cheek lyrics about having a crush on Santa feature on ‘Come On Christmas Time’. There’s also heaps of imagery about flying reindeer and leaving cookies on ‘Believing’, a Southern gospel feel on ‘Leanin’ On Jesus’, and a soft intimacy on ‘The Only Thing I Wanted’.