A group of local politicos and city employees wanted to do something different to celebrate this year's historic Democratic victories. Rather than gathering at one of the usual political watering holes—Collins Pub in Pioneer Square, say, or Kells behind Pike Place Market—they decided to sing.

Which makes perfect sense, when you think about it. Didn't you feel like singing when you learned that Barack and Michelle were heading to the White House, that Seattle was getting mass transit, and that two-time Republican loser Dino Rossi was getting shipped back to the business-school lecture circuit? We did. All the better if we could also bang on something loud.

So, at this small house in South Seattle—with a torn-up kitchen, an old upright piano, and a balcony overlooking all of Beacon Hill—everybody is singing, drinking, and playing instruments (both actual and improvised: a metal lid, a glass bowl, what looks like a cheese grater, three guitars, and a couple of harmonicas).

The songs range from obvious (Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," duh) to apolitical but joyous (the Cure's "Just Like Heaven") to defiant and, apparently, obscure (Lucinda Williams's "Passionate Kisses," to which only Party Crasher knew all the words). As the small crowd gets drunker on red wine and Scotch, the songs grow more boisterous and the singers more confident.

It's not the most melodic group you've ever heard, but that's not the point. The point is that, after eight years of not having very much to celebrate, it's nice to have a reason to make merry, holler, and make a damn fool of yourself in front of a roomful of equally joyous, like- minded friends.

Want The Stranger to play the cheese grater at your house party? E-mail the date, place, time, and party details to partycrasher@thestranger.com.