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Once, a long time ago, I visited the Caucasus Mountain region in Soviet Georgia, where our tour group was served goat cheese and a wonderful red wine, decanted from jars of clay. Maybe it was the setting, or maybe I was just young and impressionable, but it was some of the finest wine I had ever tasted. (The goat cheese was just goat cheese.)

No longer young, I am as impressionable as ever. And, wow, is the new Jars of Clay CD, Christmas Songs impressive, or what? I am not halfway through this set, and every song has been better than the last. These guys are fantastic, with their viral arrangements and edgy pop vocals. I have never really bonded with the music of my own generation, and I feel generally that indie bands have revitalized rock music in recent years and investigated sounds that are far more interesting than a lot of what the bands of my generation produced. But, unfortunately, I have many fewer referents in this space. To me, these guys bear some similarities to The Shins and to The Decemberists, among others I am too ignorant to name. They make a rock sound, but it is quite definitely a soft rock sound. They layer in lots of instrumentals, giving most of these songs a "wall of sound" effect. This is ear candy, in the best sense of the term.

I liked everything on Christmas Songs, but their own composition, Winter Skin, was among the better selections, if only for its title. And I absolutely LOVED their version of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime, a song I've never liked. Likewise, The Jars do more with Love Came Down At Christmas than I have ever heard done with it. Their arrangement has some little synthetic viral riff that that made me want to listen to it over and over and over. Hibernation Day was an amusing and clever little ditty, and a song that one can take all year long, and not just at Christmas. (Which is true for a greater than average number of these (14!) songs.)

Looking at their Web site, there were some things that made me think Jars of Clay is a Christian band. But if that is so, then there was nothing on the CD to make me notice this, besides the band name itself, which probably has some meaning if one is acquainted with the code. They are pictured, inexplicably, wearing big furry overcoats, too. What's that about? Their appearance reminds me of those Geico cavemen. Well, whatever their affiliations or grooming habits, the Jars of Clay's Christmas Songs is the best new music I have heard all year (and I have already listened to a painful quantity of the stuff, believe me). These Jars of Clay decant into a fine, fine, fine glass of wine.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2007)

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From the promotional materials:

After more than five million in career sales along with several RIAA certifications (5 Gold, 2 Platinum and 1 Double Platinum) an American Music Award nod, 17 No.1 radio hits and numerous film credits and BMI honors, it comes as no surprise that Multi-Platinum and three time GRAMMY Award winning band Jars of Clay are now giving fans what they have been wanting for years, a Christmas record.

Christmas Songs is the first holiday release from the band in their 12-year career, and will be the first release on the new label. The band brings new light to memorable Christmas songs such as O Little Town Of Bethlehem and In The Bleak Midwinter and breaks new ground with their own original holiday songs such as Winter Skin and Evergreen.

Jars of Clay

Christmas Songs

Artist link

Track List