The Fleshtones

All I want for Christmas is for musicians to stop putting out mediocre holiday albums. The fabulous Fleshtones have been doing their classic R&B/garage rock revival thing for over three decades and have certainly earned our respect over the years. Why they followed in the questionable footsteps of Josh Groban, Twisted Sister and Céline Dion is anyone's guess. Bless the boys for at least penning mostly original material, instead of churning out the ultimate album cop-out: a Christmas album comprised entirely of covers. There are a few songs that we certainly wouldn't mind throwing on while roasting chestnuts on an open fire: "Christmas With Bazooka Joe" is a pile of fun, "Champagne of Christmas" is cooler than a candy cane and "Run, Rudolph, Run" is respectable, as far as Christmas covers go. Unfortunately, the cheesy cheerleading of lead track "Hurray for Santa Claus" and the Australian-themed AC/DC homage "Six White Boomers" are enough to make Baby Jesus weep. Much like that unnecessary extra glass of eggnog, Stocking Stuffer mostly leaves us with a bad holiday hangover.