Last week we threw together a list of some of the best holiday songs released so far this year, compiling a new slate of tunes to jam over the course of the next few weeks if you’re among the many people who’ve heard Mariah’s modest wish to find an entire human being wrapped up underneath her Christmas tree one too many times. Although the London-based quartet Los Bitchos were represented on this list, they’ll be the first to remind you that it’s entirely impossible to get tired of the (unofficial) Christmas Queen’s iconic holiday single.
With this attitude, the band scraped together another list of holiday songs with a more canonical bent. On their playlist, an ABBA (relative) deepcut lands alongside John Williams scoring a pivotal scene in every millennial’s favorite Christmas B&E thriller, while the Bitchos’ own new holiday singles add an air of the contemporary to the proceedings. Additionally, a pair of traditional Swedish tunes (presumably added by the band’s bassist and Swede-in-residence Josefine Jonsson) land among more universally familiar pop cuts like the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” and Elvis’ “Blue Christmas.”
Stream along and see what they had to say about their picks below, and check out the Los Chrismos Edition of their recent LP Let the Festivities Begin! right here.
Los Bitchos, “Los Chrismos”
I mean…we put our own Christmas song out this year, how fun is that?! Making a full ’80s video for this song is one of our favorite things we’ve done this year. Merry Chrismos everyone!
Ramones, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”
One of our all-time favorite Ramones songs—we always listen to it during Christmas as a little tradition.
Jose Feliciano, “Feliz Navidad”
This is just a straight-out banger. Catchy from the get-go, and so feel-good!
ABBA, “Little Things”
Not one of ABBAs most famous songs, but it’s ABBA and it’s Christmas-themed so why not!
John Williams, “Carol of the Bells”
Home Alone is the Christmas movie of my generation, and this song conjures the excitement of setting those booby traps and running through icy streets. It still gets me!
Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas”
We just love Elvis because there’s always an element of nostalgia and sadness to whatever he sings.
Lindsay Lohan & Ali Tomineek, “Jingle Bell Rock”
We are over the moon that Lindsay has a new movie out and we are so happy she contributed to the soundtrack. This song bangs, and Lindsay’s vocal performance is stellar.
Triad, “Tänd ett ljus”
This is such a classic in Sweden. It’s easily recognisable by its acapella sound and oozes ’80s vibes which we love! “Tänd ett ljus” means “light a candle” in Swedish.
Mariah Carey, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
How can you have Christmas without this song? It’s definitely a strong runner from the greatest Christmas song of all time, and quite frankly we are all listening to it when it’s not even Christmas. So good!
Lill Lindfors, “Midnatt Råder”
Another Swedish classic which has been around since 1898 and covered by various artists since—including us! As part of our Christmas release we have released our very own version of this song called “Tipp Tapp,” which is the next song!
Los Bitchos, “Tipp Tapp”
This is the “sinister sister” of “Los Chrismo”—i.e. the second song of our EP Los Chrismos. We imagine ourselves cautiously tiptoeing through a snowy Swedish forest at night holding torches and freaking each other out.
The Ronettes, “Frosty the Snowman”
We all love this song and it should be a given on any Christmas playlist ever created. Although it does keep reminding us of the lack of snow here in the UK... Fingers crossed we will have a snowy Christmas this year!
Roxette, “It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)”
We absolutely love this song and are also so fascinated by the story behind it! This song actually started as a Christmas song before being turned into the soundtrack for Pretty Woman, and the lyrics were tweaked to remove the Christmas affiliation. We were so chuffed when we actually found the original Christmas version online! Sources say the only tweak that was made was to remove the lyric “Christmas day” and swap it for “winter’s day.”
