Fan-club-only releases are a long-standing Christmas-time tradition, celebrated by bands from the Beatles to St. Etienne. (Somewhere, Border Radio has a holiday cassette of the pre-major-label Bangles drunkenly wailing a medley of Them's "Gloria" mixed with Handel's Messiah.) But local quartet the Wakefields—who play the Little Red Hen this Thursday, December 22—were inspired to knock out their limited-edition EP, Hung by the Chimney, from a source closer to home: fan-appreciation masters Pearl Jam.
Issued in a short run of just 100 copies, this three-song EP was made available only to folks who have joined the Wakefields' e-mail list this year. "We have some people who come to every one of our shows," says singer/guitarist Jason Kardong. "How do you thank them? So we wanted to offer something special to fans like that." (However, if you really love the Wakefields, but never signed up for their mailing list, a handful of leftover copies will be available gratis at the Thursday show.)
Hung by the Chimney features amusingly, um, ballsy sleeve art, plus two off-the-beaten-path covers ("It's Christmas (Please Don't Go)" and "The Only Thing I Get for Christmas Is Drunk") and one seasonal original, "Santa Robbed My House Last Night." And yes, Virginia, the latter was inspired by true events.
"I started to write that one about five years ago, but never liked what I finished," says Kardong. "And then last year, on Christmas Day, my home alarm system went off, while I was a half-hour away at my brother's house. Sure enough, someone had tried to break in. So I dug out those lyrics, wrote some new ones, and suddenly the song felt perfect."
One selection fans might have expected to find on the holiday EP—but won't—is "Blue Christmas"; it would seem a perfect match for the Bakersfield-cum-rockabilly vibe of the Wakefields. But they had good reason for steering clear of it. "One of my all-time favorite bands, the Mavericks, did that one a couple years ago," says Kardong. Out of similar admiration, the band also avoided anything featured on Dwight Yoakam's 1997 set Come on Christmas. "Once one of those guys covers a song, you shouldn't touch it," he demurs.
If it's a mood indigo you're seeking, hang on for the January 2006 release of the Wakefields' debut full-length, Falling Down Blue. (In addition to the title track, the 13-song CD also features "Deeper Blue.") But don't fret; save for its heart-wrenching closer, "Time Stands Still," the album isn't a big downer. Kardong likes to offset his tear-in-the-beer lyrics with toe-tapping music. "Never Me" adds a schmear of mariachi via accordion and brass, while Arne Chatterton's rollicking Hammond organ on "Come and Get It" evokes the spirit of Rockpile.
"I love that combination of morose lyrics and happy beats," concludes Kardong. "I have tried to write I-love-you, I-want-to-hold-your-hand, let's-plant-flowers-together-type songs, but it just feels icky. 'Santa Robbed My House Last Night' is about as happy as I get."
