ARKELLS – “The Last Christmas (We Ever Spend Apart)” / “Pub Crawl” (2021 single)

I usually prefer an original Christmas song to a traditional one.  We’ve all heard those standards a million times.  How about something new?  For Christmas of ’21, the Arkells put out a single with two originals:  “The Last Christmas (We Ever Spend Apart)” and fan favourite “Pub Crawl” (from 2020).

The Christmas tune doesn’t particular sound like a Christmas tune.  It sounds like an Arkells song.  The synth strings and Beatles-y guitar solo dominate the music.  It’s upbeat with singalong qualities, but the lyrics kind of nail the Christmas vibe of the last few years.  Reflecting on the pandemic and the holidays we didn’t spend together:  “Last Christmas, I didn’t get to hug you, last Christmas, it almost broke my heart.”  I really like this verse:  “Are we Catholic, are we Protestant? Jewish somewhere down the line? Got a cousin who’s Republican, I promise I won’t pick a fight.”  Once again, the Arkells tap into those real feelings.  It’s a good song, though it probably won’t usurp anything from your favourite seasonal playlist.

“Pub Crawl” sounds a lot more Christmas-y though the lyrics are only vaguely so.   “Maria’s dancin’ around, and she’s singing Mariah,” is a reference to Mariah Carey’s ever-popular Christmas album.  Instead of 12 days of Christmas, they have 12 pubs to crawl through.  It starts as a piano ballad, and then kicks up into a rocker complete with guitar solo and handclaps.  Max even references himself in the lyrics by name:  “And Max is about to cry (I’m about to cry)”.

Don’t cry, Max!  Merry Christmas, Arkells!

3.5/5 stars