Lots of people make Christmas albums. Very few write an album of Christmas originals that were partially inspired by the movie Frozen.
You may know Chris Farren as the man behind Fake Problems, Antarctigo Vespucci, and those “THE SMITHS” shirts. But he’s even more ambitious than those various projects let on. In fact, between July and November 2014 he recorded these Christmas songs himself in makeshift studios and hotel rooms across America and enlisted the help of fellow punk celebs such as his current and previous Fake Problems bandmates, Jeff Rosenstock (Bomb The Music Industry!), Anika Pyle (Chumped), Laura Stevenson, Allison Weiss, Sean Bonnette (Andrew Jackson Jihad) Jenny Owen Youngs, and even Mae Whitman a.k.a. Ann from Arrested Development, among others. (Her?)
Videos by VICE
We figured no one could explain the album better than Farren himself so we asked him to summarize how exactly Like A Gift From God or Whatever came together with a track-by-track summary. You can hear “I’m Not Ready For Christmas Now” and pre-order the record now which officially comes out on December 2, just in time for you to already be sick of the Bing Crosby standards being piped into every shopping outlet on the planet. Oh and better yet, for every purchase this December, a portion of the proceeds will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). For more information about NAMI, visit NAMI.org.
“I’ve been toying around with the idea of making a Christmas album for years but could never gather the courage to do it. I mostly figured it would be a very new, exciting, easy way for people on the internet to be mean to me. But earlier this year, I recorded some songs for something else and a friend of mine mentioned in passing that one of them sounded like a Christmas song. The next day I wrote ‘Christmas Guitar’ and it all kind of snowballed from there. In the midst of writing the record, I watched the movie ‘Frozen’ for the first time and that really sent me over the edge. Toward the end of the summer I had all of the songs I needed—and in an effort to get better at recording, I recorded everything myself in my house. I left for tour before the record was done so I had to finish it on the road, which ended up great because I was able to get a bunch of friends to contribute. To be ‘real’ for a second, it was actually a really inspiring process and I had such a good time working with everyone who helped out. Casey Lee played a whole bunch of guitar on it, Sean Stevenson played drums and piano, Jeff Rosenstock played Wurlitzer and saxophone and just a bunch more great people helped out. And it was crazy easy and fun to write Christmas songs. —Chris Farren
“Belize Navidad”
The first track of the record. The piano line is a reoccurring theme throughout the album. While I was in New York City, I got Anika [Pyle] from Chumped to come in and sing the vocal for this. GOT TO LOVE A GOOD SHORT INTRO TRACK. It was raining really hard when I recorded this, so you can hear a lot of that bleed through and a great big thunder crash at the end.
“Christmas Guitar”
The first song I wrote for the record. This is kind of the song that made me realize I could possibly make a Christmas album. I had my friend Shelby record a bunch of voice memos on her phone and send them to me. That’s her “cheerleading” the piano solo. Also this song is a lie, I don’t really need a new guitar. Art is a lie!!!
“I’m Not Ready For Christmas”
This was the second song I wrote for the album. To get in the mindset for this record, I fell asleep every night listening to Christmas music or watching Christmas movies. The main thing I learned from that is that all of those movies and songs are CRAZY SAD. So I imagined the saddest (without being TRAGIC) situation I could think of and wrote this. Basically what would happen if I continued to put off proposing to my girlfriend and she decided it wasn’t worth it to wait around anymore and broke up with me… and then having to explain that to our families during the holiday season and making everyone feel awkward. I’m so happy with how this turned out and to have Mae Whitman sing on it is a super added plus. Her voice is perfect for this song, I SAY.
“Chris Farren’s Disney’s Frozen”
I think this is my favorite song on the record. As I was “researching” Christmas movies, I decided to watch this Frozen movie everyone was talking about. Not really a Christmas movie, but anything with snow is fine I guess. Anyway this song rules and it’s vaguely about Frozen. Anika from Chumped and Sean from Andrew Jackson Jihad both sing on this song. Can I get in trouble for saying “Disney” in a song title? I hope not. Please if you are reading this, Walt Disney, do not sue me.
“Waiting For You In The Snow”
Like I said, most traditional Christmas music is pretty bleak. I wanted to expand on “I’m Not Ready For Christmas,” so this is kind of a prequel to that song. It centers around the end of a relationship and that feeling of not really knowing what to do with yourself once your routines with someone else are gone. TOO REAL?
“Like a Gift From God or Whatever”
TITLE TRACK, BABY. My friend Sean, who also played drums on this record, had the idea to sneak into this chapel near our house and record the piano tracks there using all of their beautiful equipment. We were able to get a few takes in before someone came in and kicked us out. I pieced them together and thankfully it all worked out. I was pretty sure we were gonna get arrested. Jenny Owen Youngs sings on this song and she rocks. Lyrically the song follows the same story-line as “Not Ready” and “Waiting For You,” but a few years down the line. Sitting around wondering what ever happened to someone you used to spend all of your time with and know everything about.
“Merry Christmas Again”
Kind of a love song I guess?? This song is about being in LOVE, IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU!? I am a person with true emotions.
“The Undertaker”
I just wanted to make a weird creepy Christmas song about dying on Christmas and being sent to hell. Am I basic? I found some old Christmas records on vinyl at a Goodwill and garbled them up and sampled them, reversed some stuff and just kind of experimented around with this song to make it sound as “other worldly” as possible. A nice little holiday journey through death and to hell.
“Emo Revival Christmas 2014”
I tuned my guitar to whatever Mike Kinsella does on that American Football record and made an instrumental Christmas song. My friend Matt Agrella from Look Mexico wrote all of the horn parts. The melody from “Belize Navidad” and “I Wish It Was Christmas Every Day” makes another short appearance at the apex of the song.
“Happier New Year”
I just wanted to make a song that sounds like the beginning of Saturday Night Live. Jeff Rosenstock on the saxophone! My friends Lee Corey Oswald on group vocals! Lyrically it’s both looking forward and a concession that I make these big sweeping statements every year around this time and always kind of come up short. I did get a gym membership this year and went A LOT. I am so strong now so I guess I’m getting better.
“Shelby’s Christmas Eve”
Lee Ellis from Lee Corey Oswald improvised the organ part in one take in his parents’ basement the last day of our tour together. Every Christmas record needs a little spoken-word track. I can’t listen to this without laughing because it’s very funny to me to hear my friend Shelby reading this nice Christmas poem.
“I Wish It Was Christmas Every Day“
The very last thing I finished for the record. Antarctigo Vespucci was on tour and stayed with Sean Bonnette from Andrew Jackson Jihad. Jeff Rosenstock, Sean, and I spent the morning recording vocals before we had to leave for the next show. The song is about walking around town just after Christmas and seeing people slowly take down the decorations. It all seems so ridiculous after Christmas that we decorated everything with lights and cartoon characters like, “Why did we do this? This is insane.”
