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Christmas Song of the day – 543: The School

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Liz Hunt, The School - live at the Lexington, London

A break with tradition for this year’s Christmas Day song.  This year’s Christmas Day song isn’t about Christmas.

It easily could be, though. The following two songs are simultaneously summery and Christmas-y (must be something to do with the bittersweet melancholy infusing the buoyant, crushworthy melodies), which in the context of south east Queensland makes perfect sense. 

I’ve been meaning to make a School song Song of the Day for several months now (ever since Mike’s Single of the Week blog entry gave me the tiniest of nudges), and I really can’t let 2012 pass without proper acknowledgment for an album that has made me so happy during the year, The School’s Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything. It’s so… (shrugs)… I don’t know. It’s so everything. I think when I initially heard it I was a fraction suspicious, it seemed too familiar… but now it’s not so much familiar as family. Real proper family. The kind that will snuggle up close and cosy with you on the sofa (or on the deck), after a day spent splashing around in an outdoor swimming pool, and driving round the outskirts of The Gap in search of the perfect Christmas lights arrangement. The School are one of the very few bands that make Christmas in Brisbane make perfect sense.

For my Christmas Song of the day I can’t decide between this:

And this:

OK. It’s probably the first one, but you don’t want to take family for granted. Ever.

As Mike put it:

Sure, there are acts out there like Camera Obscura, The Carrots and Belle & Sebastian who have all sold these same wares, but with The School it’s different. One gets the feeling it’s not just the music, but a way of life for them. I can imagine them allotting plenty of time for working on their scooters, looking through charity shops for vintage polyester dresses, on the hunt for super smart coats and boots, while spending any spare money left over on hard to find Shure 50s microphones and small tube amps. There is no doubt in my mind had they been around in the 60s we’d know Liz Hunt in the same way we all know Sandie Shaw, Timi Yuro, Dusty Springfield, Twinkle, Lulu, and Petula Clark. However Liz is not waiting around for some man to write her songs, she does it all herself which is what sets The School apart from their 60s influences.

P.S.

P.P.S. If someone wants to send me a download link for that new Elefant Records Christmas compilation, that would be really appreciated.

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