Take Christmas By Surprise

Merry Retrospectivus - By Surprise

     If you've spent much time around me (in my house or car, mostly), you've almost certainly heard me hollering along to By Surprise, the best indie rock band in the world. And if you've spent much time around me during the holiday months, you've certainly heard me lamenting over my distaste for pop Christmas music. It's not that I hate it, and it's not like I can't appreciate something for being classic, I just need a little more guitar and a little less vocal technique in my seasonally-appropriate music. Luckily, tis' the Season! and By Surprise, my favorite least-active-but-still-active band local to my music library, has a surprisingly extensive collection of Christmas Songs, compiled from yearly (2007-2014) contributions to the Arbor Records Christmas Compilations (also worth checking out, but for now I want to focus on By Surprise).

     By Surprise is another leftover from the emo revival of the late 00's and early 2010's, which means they bring that pessimistic outlook on the holidays that resonates with suckers like me. What's really fun is watching the band mature through the years on the album. The EP opens with Battle of Snowmeng Mountain Pt. 2, where the vocalist becomes a man with a hatred for snowmen. A lot of indie rock artists write songs using battle and war imagery, but fall short where the music links to that imagery. The opening track on Merry Retrospectivus succeeds here, with a driving hi-hat/snare combo beneath the verses to match the lyrical "I'm running I'm running / as fast as I can." Who's to Say this Year Will Be Any Different? hits the emo-Christmas nail right on the head, and feels like the logical follow-up in terms of song structure to the openers. I get a kick out of Worst Christmas Ever, even if they're re-using a riff from the LP Mountain Smashers (or maybe this is the original use of that riff, even). By the time Snow Angel comes rolling around, you're not surprised at all that they've reached enough emotional maturity as a band to write a wonderfully catchy Christmas love song. By No Mistletoe, the form is nearly perfected. 

     For a band that's anything but consistent, By Surprise has consistently put together some of my favorite corny Christmas emo out there. Notice the restrained use of the jingle bells, an easy crutch used by lesser musicians to turn something ostensibly Not A Christmas Song into a bell-ridden mess. Making music requires subtlety, people. Notice the on-theme lyrics and references to almost-Christmas traditions. Emo has a certain way of referencing things that are specific, yet general enough to assign your own meaning. Merry Retrospectivus crafts scenes straight from a Hallmark movie with just enough detachment to make it palatable. I'm not sure if it's just my family that always seemed to be building one of the larger Lego sets over the winter break, but Worst Christmas Ever's line about falling on a Lego castle instantly creates an image in my mind with an appropriate physical sensation to boot.