Brow Beat

Have a Lo-Fi Christmas With Dr. Dog

When the holiday season rolls around, I always keep an ear out for new Christmas songs—or old ones that I haven’t already heard a million times and which don’t get played to death this time of year. “Joy” by Tracey Thorn, say, or “Jesus Christ” by Big Star.

That’s why I was very happy when someone from Anti- sent along the EP below by Dr. Dog, which Brow Beat is pleased to premiere. The band’s lead guitarist and vocalist, Scott McMicken, “wrote these songs and recorded them in two different kitchens over the course of the two weeks leading up to Christmas” last year, he says. He planned to “mail them to friends and family as a Christmas present,” but ultimately decided to release them as an EP, with 100 percent of his proceeds going to Feeding America, the “nation’s largest hunger-relief charity.”

The lo-fi sound will be familiar to fans of Dr. Dog, which has put out several albums since forming in the late ’90s. Even if you’re new to their music, you will likely appreciate the songs’ very pleasant echoes of ’60s pop—as well as their holiday spirit. And you can pre-order the EP, which comes out tomorrow, on iTunes. In the meantime, enjoy.

1. “Christmas Party”

2. “Oh My Christmas Tree”

3. “I Believe in Santa Claus”

4. “Rejoice”