Hands and Knees: James Brown Died On Christmas Day

Visible Voice wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  Topping our list of things we're thankful for is you, our readers, so here's a little something to get you in the holiday spirit...

If you're like me, it's not so much that you have anything against Christmas music.  The ubiquitous sleigh bells and cheesy holiday imagery warms the cockles in a nostalgic kind of way.  The problem is, we've been hearing the same handful of songs, year-after-year, for our entire lives.  As great as Otis Redding's version of "White Christmas" is, it gets old after a couple listens.  That's why I'm always on the lookout for new songs to add to the rotation during the holidays.

Boston's Hands and Knees is offering up a Christmas 7" that you'll want to make sure is on all of your Holiday playlists.  Where many indie bands come off as hopelessly out of their element when trying their hands at Christmas music, Hands and Knees shake things up and deliver two yuletide gems. 

The A-side, "James Brown Died On Christmas Day", would make the Godfather of Soul proud with its bouncy beat, handclaps and Brown-esque exclamations of "hit me!" and "oww!".  B-side "The Biggest Snowflake" is slower and brooding, spinning a surreal, twisted story about getting killed by a snowflake - I'm thinking it might make a little more sense after a few egg nogs.

The band was gracious enough to let me post James Brown Died On Christmas Day below for download.  Add this to your Holiday mix, then head to the band's bandcamp page to pick up the vinyl or digital version of The Biggest Snowflake.

Hands and Knees - James Brown Died On Christmas Day