Butch Walker is one of America’s best songwriters and producers that you’ve likely never heard of. His personal catalog is extensive and filled with his unique blend of grimy rock bangers sandwiched in between saccharine sweet love songs (The Rise and Fall of…Butch Walker and The Let’s-Go-Out-Tonites being his definitive solo album in my book) and his work on the production side of the house is a massive collection of some of the biggest names in the past 20 years. He has worked with artists ranging from Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, P!nk, Green Day, Taylor Swift, and Fall Out Boy, always bringing his unique lyrical twists and melodic hooks to the table in a huge and over the top way.
Over the Holidays and Under the Influence is his Christmas record, and one that really wasn’t ever meant to be. Every year Walker hosts a Christmas Carol party at his home and he invited the band over to his studio the night beforehand to rehearse. They all got a little high and drunk, had the tapes rolling so they could take the songs home to remember their parts, and upon re-listening to the songs heard they had caught a little bit of magic that night in the studio and decided to release the songs as-is with only horns as overdubs. It’s effectively a live record, put out with all its tiny imperfections, and features the band busting each others chops in between song transitions as well as Walker’s pretty spot-on Elvis impersonations. And to top it all off they recreated the Beach Boys’ famous Christmas album cover, cardigans and all, as a final stroke of genius.
This isn’t the best Christmas album you’ll hear, but it’s damn sure one of the funniest. The organic simplicity and jankiness of it all makes it a cult classic I’ll be spinning in years to come when that holiday buzz hits just right.
Standout Songs: “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, “Frosty The Snowman”, “Feliz Navidad”
Matthew. 