Album Review: The Sweetback Sisters — Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular

Listening to the harmonies of Sweetback Sisters Zara Bode and Emily Miller could put a smile on the Grinch’s sour, green face.

Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular is the result of the Brooklyn-based band’s annual holiday concerts, which have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Here, the six-person band romps through a collection of seasonal classics like “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” along with a couple unexpected selections, like a thoroughly enjoyable cover of Loretta Lynn’s sassy breakup song, “Happy Birthday.”

The six-piece band serves up classic country, rockabilly, and even a bit of swing on the fifteen song record; there’s a song and a sound for every moment of the holiday season, from the raucous, call-and-response party tune “Must be Santa” to the steel-guitar-laced “Christmas Island,” gentle as a palm tree swaying in the breeze. There’s even a tribute to the Jingle Cats with a meowed version of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing;” thankfully, it’s only forty seconds long. The album’s one original, “Nine Days of Christmas,” (written and sung by Jesse Milnes, the band’s fiddler), is a boozy honky-tonking heartbreaker: “I’m not drinking beer or champagne/ The bubbles only make me think of you/ I’m cooking up a cocktail for Christmas/ And I’m opening up packages for two.”

Whether you’re full of the holiday spirit, or just some holiday spirits, turn it up and sing along.

Preview or purchase The Sweetback Sisters’ Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular