Here's a catchy Christmas number from Brave Combo. They are nominally a polka band. But to paraphrase the Oldsmobile commercial, "They're not your father's polka band." Absolutely top notch playing and musicality. Very high energy. Loving every note they play.

Their home is Denton Texas, and you can expect some Tex Mex in their repertoire. They also play just about anything in the world. This one is not from their Christmas album but from Musical Varieties (1987), on Rounder Records. It's a compilation drawn from their first three albums plus two previously unreleased songs. On this album you can hear their versions of People Are Strange, El Cumbanchero, Julida, Clarinet Polka, Watermelon Heart, Habanera Rock, la Cumparsita, Letg's Trim Twist Again, Sixteen Tons, etc. My wife and I were at a pool party with a bunch of twenty-somethings. Everyone was burnt out on the current popular music that was playing. I sneaked out to the car and got my cassette of this album and sneaked it on the boom box. Everyone was instantly energized. I have often said this is the best live act in the world, regardless of what kind of music you like.

Other favorites: Kick-Ass Polkas, Polkatharsis, Group Dance Epidemic - with two versions of The Hokey Pokey nobody in their right mind could resist. I'm not too high on their latest, though, The Exotic Rocking Life, based only on samples. I think the new bass player is good but I don't know about the new drummer. Sometimes the samples you hear deceive, but when the rhythm doesn't kick the way it should, ...