Earlier this year I spoke about the impact Bad Religion had on the punk rock music I grew up on in my write-up on their 1988 album Suffer. A brief refresher in case you missed it:
It’s hard to overstate just how influential Bad Religion was on the punk rock I grew up on during the mid-2000’s. Bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Green Day, The Offspring, Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, and Rancid all owe a debt of significant gratitude to the forebears of that distinct sound for a handful of reasons, the first and primary being 1988’s Suffer which, in the words of Fat Mike from NOFX, was “the record that changed everything.” And he’s right. Coming in at a tidy 25 minutes across 15 songs, Suffer is an open throttle assault down the highway at breakneck speed. Bad Religion (and Suffer in particular) recognize that sometimes the strongest musical statement you can make is with the classic lineup of vocals, two guitars, a bass, and drums. It gets the job done with a real beauty in its simplicity.
– Bad Religion, Suffer (1988) via musicofmatthew.com
Bad Religion’s aptly named Christmas Songs takes all that makes Bad Religion great and applies it to the holiday season. I’m a total sucker for holiday songs that flip the script from the tried-and-true classics, and nothing is better than a punk band turning up to 11 and blasting through some holiday staples at breakneck speed. It’s incredible how well lead singer Greg Graffin delivers vocally on these songs– his voice is an absolutely iconic one in punk rock history, and his timbre is seemingly perfectly crafted to deliver on these songs. The massive a cappela intro to “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and all of the soaring backing vocals that Bad Religion is known for are all present here as well.
Christmas Songs is a bad ass Christmas album that will be in my repertoire for years to come on. Special thanks to my buddy Anthony for recommending this one. Rock on.
Standout Songs: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, “Angels We Have Heard On High”
