The Puppini Sisters

In the United States Christmas albums are a tradition, while the UK has always been more a fan of Christmas single. Unlike the Americans we don’t want to too much of a good thing, or perhaps a bad thing. Here the vocal harmonies of Puppini Sisters are put to the test on ten festive classics.

The songs chosen range from the likes of Wham! And Elton John to Bing Crosby and a even a carol. The advantage the girls have is that whatever they choose to cover will be different from the original. Their disadvantage is the challenge of being interesting enough to last 10 tracks. It’s a problem that has presented itself on their first two ‘proper’ albums, making that move from novelty to interesting.

Here there is definitely more novelty, and not just because these are songs you are only going to listen to for three weeks of the year. You’re not going to discover a great song, but you will probably smile. The range from good to bad is highlighted by a cheeky and delightful ‘Santa Baby’ and the cartoonish and headache inducing ‘All I Want For Christmas’, which is drained of any tune.

‘Step Into Christmas’ and ‘Last Christmas’ go much the same way and it is perhaps unsurprising that older songs work better in this 40s style. ‘Mele Kalilimaka’ for example, was written in 1949 and has Hawaiian origins. The band’s doo wops and vocal ticks mean it is great fun and a snowy video with Hula skirts would go down very well.

‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘O Holy Night’ also work well but by now you are beginning to have that feeling of over-eating we all get at Christmas. You feel bloated and you’re ready to remove all the tinsel and lights. Listening to these tracks live would be great but a whole album proves a test for even the most festive ears.