Coming two years after their fourth studio album, 2003's Get the Picture?,
Smash Mouth delivered their first holiday-themed album with 2005's
The Gift of Rock. Still featuring the California band's high-energy, somewhat retro-sounding punk-pop sound,
The Gift of Rock primarily features a few classic and some lesser-known holiday cover songs. Included are cuts by such artists as
the Kinks,
Louis Armstrong,
the Sonics, and others. These are fun, somewhat novelty-oriented songs that fit well next to
Smash Mouth's own material. In fact, cuts like
Smash Mouth's reworking of
the Ramones' "Merry Christmas, I Don't Want to Fight Tonight" and especially the group's exuberant take on
the Royal Guardsmen's 1967 cult classic "Snoopy's Christmas" are gleeful, garage rock-style holiday anthems that should appeal to both longtime
Smash Mouth fans and anyone who loves left-of-center Christmas songs. ~ Matt Collar