The Puppini Sisters (who aren't really named Puppini and aren't really sisters) take on the Christmas season with their third album, an eclectic collection touching on their neo-swing tendencies. This is a British trio (their accents slip in on the occasional syllable here and there) who may take after
the Andrews Sisters overtly, but who, on the evidence of this disc, are at least as interested in
George Michael and
Mariah Carey as they are in
Bing Crosby and
Patty Andrews. So, for example, they revive the 1980s
Wham! hit "Last Christmas" (much more of a hit in the U.K. than in the U.S.), a catchy if melancholy ballad, as well as
Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." But they also traipse back to the ‘40s and ‘50s for
Crosby- and
Crosby/
Andrews-related numbers like "White Christmas" and "Mele Kalikimaka." Their jazziest reading, actually, is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (here called simply "Let It Snow"), although their singing can't really be called jazz since the scatting and re-harmonizing clearly were worked out in advance and rehearsed, not improvised on the spot. That's the way
the Andrews Sisters did it, too, of course, and
the Puppini Sisters remain as much a tribute act as a revitalization of several eras of pop. ~ William Ruhlmann