Happy Birthday Baby Jesus (1996) is the CD reissue of two vinyl LPs released in 1993 and 1994 by uber indie label Sympathy For The Record Industry - plus, as the CD booklet states, "some stuff that's new." Captured at the height of post-modern, alt-rock mania, the Happy Birthday Baby Jesus bands fairly ooze irony and drip sarcasm. Nary a single cut has a sincerely festive perspective on the high Christian holiday. That's not necessarily a bad thing - I love a good piss on Christmas - but pointedly out-of-tune caterwauling can wear a bit thin after an hour-and-a-half.

The thing is, I really want to like this album better. I mean, the song titles alone are pretty entertaining. "Little Drummer Bitch" (Red Aunts), "Last On Santa's List" (Fireworks), "Christmastime Is For Sinners" (Mono Men), and especially "Merry Christmas Fuck You" (Jet Boys) merit a belly laugh before laser ever strikes aluminum. But, well, most of those songs aren't very good. Alternative music, particularly the sort that Sympathy For The Record Industry traffics in, is often as much about posture as it is about craft. But, musicality has to count for something, and much of Happy Birthday Baby Jesus borders on unlistenable.

That said, the highlights are both plentiful and unique - and, strangely enough, tend to be the songs played well or enthusiastically, or both. Hands down, the very best tracks are El Vez's wacky "Feliz Navi-Nada" (which fuses Jose Feliciano's hispanic classic to John Lydon's "Public Image") and the Shitbird's ebullient "Christmas Is A-Comin'" (featuring a young April March). Beyond that, a number of notable bands (the Muffs, Rocket From The Crypt, Supersuckers) turn in solid - if less than spectacular - performances.

Those cuts tip the balance for Happy Birthday Baby Jesus, along with several fine performances from now-forgotten scenesters. For instance, the Humpers (who???) tear through Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" as if their very lives depended on it, tossing off one of the album's best bits in the process: as they're about to rip into a squalling guitar solo, the singer gleefully screams, "Check this shit out!" Indeed, it's moments like that make Happy Birthday Baby Jesus far more than an artifact of the mordant 90's - if less than the post-punk Christmas classic I wish it was. [top of page]