Reviewed by Isaac Poulton

This is possibly the most American sounding album I've ever heard, which is ironic since Hawk Nelson are Canadian. No one can say that the band are slackers - they've released 15 albums and EPs since 2000. They're amazingly tight with infectious pop punk rhythms while with their slightly '80s-ish harmonies are able to add plenty of energy even to a set of standard Christmas songs as presented here. I have to say that my favourite part of the whole EP is the final verse of "Joy To The World". I don't want to say what it is, 'cause that would spoil the fun, but that had me bent over laughing; it's worth buying the EP just for that. Thing is, it tells you something about the album when the best part is a funny verse. Other familiar yuletide evergreens given a rawk music run through are "Silent Night" and "The Holly And The Ivy" though overall, I feel that for all the expertise shown here the music is too clean and clinical to make this a complete success.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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