Christmas records, the last refuge of the inspirationally bereft. They are always destined to appeal to a niche market. Not only do you have to be a fan of the festive period to appreciate the majority of saccharine pop inflicted on the seasonal market, you have to possess patience of a saint just to survive the barrage of shops, commercials and films that insist on playing the same songs again and again ad infinitum.

It seems strange then, to be reviewing The Keys “Christmas E.P.”, a collection of winter warmers, in mid April, a good few months since my winter cheer departed. Mercifully not that many of the songs bear the hallmarks of the dreaded Phil Spectre Christmas production, save for the odd sleigh bell. In fact, were it not for the romantic evocations of childhood holidays the record could be filed alongside any number of carefully crafted pop collections.

‘Queuing Up For Christmas Time’ is easily the best Christmas song Brian Wilson never wrote. Opening with some surprisingly spacey atmospherics before giving way to the strum of an acoustic guitar and the steady backbeat of a vamped piano, the song really comes to life during its chorus, a rousing refrain that is lifted by lashings of harp and Beach Boy type harmonies. The rather grandiose production could easily mire the song in schmaltz but the arrangement is tight and the sentiment genuine:
The words conjure up fond festive memories and even the hammy whistling that follows (a cardinal sin that can only be topped by child choirs) fails to detract from the sheer sense of joy the song instils in the listener.

‘Somewhere’ follows and is perhaps the best track on the record. With a bass line vaguely reminiscent of Jimmy Ruffin’s ‘What Becomes of the Brokenhearted’ setting the tone, vocalist Matthew Evans mournful vocal laments the snow laden streets and fractured relationships. ‘There’s a Place’ and ‘The Reveal’ continue in a similar vein, their sugar coated melodies again putting one in mind of the Wilson brothers and other 60s popsters. It comes as some surprise then to find closing number ‘Strange Garden’ a storming psychedelic mini-epic that recalls the band’s earlier work with ringing 12-string guitar riffs and swirling organ.

The Key’s “Christmas E.P.” may not set the world on fire, and the band have written stronger material in the past, but as Christmas records go it’s an interesting departure and far preferable to the nauseating stalwarts that haunt Christmas past, present and future. If it’s a choice between hearing Bono yelping his well intentioned but rather insensitive rumination on poverty stricken Africa in the Band Aid single, or The Key’s acerbic pop, I know which one I’d rather hear in the shopping centres next year.