Our Review
I have listened to some impressive CDs this year, but I nothing remotely like what I have discovered with the 5 Chinese Brothers! This record is so sweet, so playful, and so funny. Whether it is Rockin' in the Manger with the Prince of Peace or having a Honky Tonk Christmas, the Brothers tilt at Christmas again and again, until Christmas is just about tilted on its head.
In the cock-eyed--but sentimental--All I Want for Christmas Is Daddy, a boy puts aside his longing for things to ask Santa for a special gift. I enjoyed this change of pace.
But the highlight for me on this highlight-filled record, was Dept. Store Santa Claus Strike, a talking labor anthem that paid tribute to the best of Phil Ochs work. Who would have thought all these nylon-bearded Santas would get mad as hell?
I love these songs! Almost all unknown, original Christmas tunes, the 5 Chinese Brothers make one concession to tradition by including a very sweet instrumental arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem. 1997 was all about irony, of course, but these guys are ironical way beyond what is called for during even our over-commercialized department store Christmases.
By the way, they aren't Chinese, they aren't Brothers, and there aren't 5.
--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 1998)
No More
5 Chinese Brothers
A Window Shopper's Christmas
Order from Amazon
Label: Prime CD
Length: 40 minutes
Genre: Rock
Release: 1997
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Make the Rafters Ring |
| Rockin' in the Manger |
| And To All a Good Night |
| Making Angels in the Sand |
| Honky Tonk Christmas |
| Missing Miss December |
| Dear Santa |
| Age-Old Story |
| Christmas on Interstate 80 |
| The Fruitcake Song |
| O Litle Town of Bethlehem |
| Dept. Store Santa Claus Strike |
| Christmas in Manhattan |