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Do they even know what they are singing? Do they know what the lyrics mean? I don't know the answer to that musical question, and I rather doubt I'll ever find out. In the meantime I am just enjoying the CD I waited all season to get my hands on. Sometimes I notice a CD cover and I know--I just know!--this is the Christmas music I've been waiting my whole life for. I knew it the moment I saw them in those reindeer ears. And just as so many times before when I have had that feeling, I wasn't disappointed with the new Petty Booka offering.

Petty and Booka are Petty Booka. (I believe Petty is the one on the left.) They sound funny singing English lyrics with their Japanese inflection, but as soon as you think they're just a novelty act--a couple of cuties with a ukulele--they throw John Prine's Christmas In Prison at you, and you experience a John Prine catharsis, and you know they know what they're singing about. They must.

They have a distinctive sound--they're a Japanese ukulele-playing pop duo from Tokyo, after all. But their range is quite surprising. As kitsch recyclers, they are more American than most Americans. But they have another register of tender pathos they can employ that belies their absurd schtick. First on the John Prine tune, and then later on Steve Goodman's Colorado Christmas, they render a sentimental folk song that reminds me of the late, great Kate Wolf.

Or maybe you're someone who is just looking for a Japanese-flavored rendition of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo. Either way, you won't be disappointed.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2003)

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From their press kit:

Petty Booka is a ukulele-playing chorus duo from Tokyo--or is it Texas? Hawaii? If the moon is blue, they might even be from Kentucky! They specialize in putting a unique Polynesian or Country-Western twist on faves from the world of country, bluegrass, exotica, punk, 1980s pop, and whatever else might strike their fancy."

Petty Booka

Christmas Everywhere

Artist link

Track List