Like a Sisyphean triumph, Dan Bryk’s Christmas Record has been quietly rolling uphill, picking up steam and street cred for near 20 years now.
So if you’re still searching for that one special Christmas album with a difference, seek out Christmas Record by Dan Bryk.
The former Torontonian, now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has come up with a disc that is both contemporary AND seasonal in its sensibility.
His melodic piano-driven pop balladry suits the seasonal vibe real well, adding new seasonal fare to the Christmas canon along with perhaps the most achingly sad version of Dolly Parton’s Hard Candy Christmas ever recorded, it’s naked vulnerability surpassing even that of the original, surprisingly excerpted by both Bryk and Parton from perhaps one of the most unlikeliest source of Christmas inspiration, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.
But don’t take our word for it. Some of the greatest minds of our generation have already made bold pronouncements concerning Dan Bryk’s brilliant Christmas opus.
Grayson Currin of The Independent Weekly said:
“The 30-something songwriter, known for his piano playing and keen observational wit, doesn’t hate Christmas, but he certainly doesn’t like it, either. Perhaps the front cover of Christmas Record tells the story of his antipathy best: A bright, red ornament is shattered across an otherwise pristine white floor. The shards are too big for the ornament to have been thrown. It looks like it was hanging high with seasonal spirit. Then it came crashing down. The hook that held it to the branch is still there. Maybe someone bumped into it? Maybe someone shook the tree? Or maybe it just got tired of trying. That’s the sentiment of a Dan Bryk Christmas, detailed in what has to be one of the most self-effacing Christmas albums ever. It’s predicated neither on seasonal and spiritual joy nor money-making maneuvers. It’s just an honest (if exaggerated) appraisal of the holiday’s inspired difficulties, infinite loneliness, bad luck, bankrupting ambitions and overactive materialism. You know, the kind of stuff that people call “cheer…”
Carmen Lyon of Suite 101 included Bryk’s album in their Top 10 Indie Christmas Albums list saying:
“All I can really say is that this is probably the most original of Christmas-themed albums out there. Its so strangely unique that I sometimes wonder how holiday-related it really is, and then I realize thats what Dan Bryk does and that’s why I love it!”
John Sakamoto of the Toronto Star’s Anti-List and podcast said:
“In which the displaced Torontonian (he now calls North Carolina home) encounters Jesus changing a flat tire in the parking lot of a Radio Shack and becomes reacquainted with the true meaning of the season. What ensues may be intermittently sardonic after preaching about peace and the wings of a dove, “Jesus” self-deprecatingly observes, “I know they’re clichés, but they work” yet the overall tone of earnestness deftly plays against the song’s comic premise.”
Brian Howe of Pitchfork gave the album 4 Stars saying:
“Sleigh bells and chimes are a hallmark of popular Yuletide songs, evoking so much winter wonder at once– reindeer on the roof, hansom carriages in the snow, tinkling icicles falling from the eaves. Leave it to wittily depressive Dan Bryk to warp their good cheer toward the doomy, intoning them like funeral bells amid the ominous drums and minor-key pianos of this gloom-pop Christmas crash ‘n’ burn… A real grinch, all right, but anyone who’s got a shitty Christmas or two under their belt will know what he means. Oh, did I mention that the song is kind of a suicide note? Merry Christmas.”
Jeff Liberty of KV Style Magazine said:
“Dan is one of the most eloquent lyricists who also possesses a potent sense of humour. He is also a master craftsman of brilliant pop sensibilities. Armed with a piano, Dan was the Indie “It Boy” a few years back. He has since moved south and continues to craft some of the best pop music never heard. The Christmas Record is a great addition to his already rich catalogue and is a must for the true music aficionado. Songs that are sometimes auto-biographical and other unique holiday songs soon to be classics sit side by side on the disc. This CD is for those looking for a Christmas release with a new outlook and maybe one that hits closer to home. My favorite track is Cozy Evenings (Morgan David Remix) and it is maybe one of the best Christmas songs i have ever heard! Fans of Joe Jackson, Ben Folds and Randy Newman will love this cd and i highly recommend ALL of Dan’s CDs.”
Gabino Travassos wrote:
“You know of course that the guy who wrote “…and Now Our Love is Dead” didn’t just release a chirpy little Christmas album full of family-friendly good cheer. Nor is this a sarcastic stab in the heart of the holiday season that you might expect from a smug indie rocker. Instead this is an entertaining, sensitive yet comedic, singer-singwriter album similar to his 2000 release Lovers Leap, but instead the songs are about Christmas, a tete-a-tete with Jesus Christ, and a long drive across the United States… it will keep you alive with indie rock Christmas tales year round.”
Songs Illinois wrote:
“Someone halfheartedly complained recently in the comments section that the Christmas song I linked to didn’t sound enough like Christmas. I guess they meant an idealized Christmas where everyone’s happy and families get along and we don’t have to go back to work the next day. But the majority of folks don’t live that Christmas so here’s Dan Byrk’s (although “Cozy Evenings” is a cover) take on Christmas. These are songs that use Christmas as a backdrop to make some broader point, usually a very melancholy one about loneliness and missed opportunities. Because of that they are timeless and not just something to be consumed and used up over the holidays.”
But, perhaps our favourite comment of all comes from the proverbial Ghost Of Christmas Past themselves. Masashi of MySpace phoned home from all the way back in 2006 to write on MySpace:
“I just bought your X-mas album. Thank goodness, an X-mas album that rocks. You rule.”
God bless us, everyone.
Dan Bryk and Erin McGinn’s trip from Canada to Chapel Hill forms the storyline of “Great Adventure,” the eight-minute travelogue at the heart of Christmas Record. Bryk says he had enough verses for 24 minutes, but he had to stop somewhere:
Great Adventure by Dan Bryk
We both woke up on Christmas morn
In separate beds across the hall
My parents’ house, my mother’s laws
We couldn’t wait until tomorrow
The bumper hanging in the snow
My dad asked, “Sure you have to go?”
And mom said, “See, I told you so
You should’ve rented a U-Haul”
By 12 o’clock, we hit the road
Our stomachs full, a heavy load
Our chariot a V-8 Ford
It would be a great adventure
In Buffalo we were stopped and stared at
The customs man said, “Pull over there”
I brushed your cheek, you stroked my hair
As we waited for an eternity
They called our names through the speaker buzz
And asked us what our purpose was
For crossing the border like Santa Claus
Were we trying to pull a fast one?
They asked you all about your new job
One played good cop, one took notes
They emptied the car and searched for drugs
Or whatever it was they were looking for
And left it all piled up beside the trunk
And wished us good luck
With Canada in our rearview mirror
And Christmas carols on the stereo
The snow fell hard, the road went clear
Black ice, our Christmas miracle
We crawled along the thruway ride
The snow was rising on each side
The windshield wipers kept the time
To the yobs and “Feliz Navidad”
We pulled into a Cracker Barrel
Hardly gay in our apparel
The waitress said, “My name is Cheryl.
Take your time. It looks rough out there.”
You look like you’re on some kind of
great adventure”
You said you’d like the veggie plate
I ordered chicken deep-fried steak
You gave me a look, I said, “Give me a break
It’s my first meal in America”
The muffler fell off the back of the car
’round Clarksburg, West Virginia
You held my hand and we tried to laugh
But we couldn’t hear much after that
79 is a boring drive
I’d hardly know you were alive
Without you snoring by my side
And missing the great adventure
Missing the great adventure
Uh-huh
The Citgo sign said 24 hours
I bought Perrier and pecan turtles
And wilting red gas station flowers
You said, “Now, that’s romantic”
We stopped at 12 at Motel 8
The only place that looked open late
They have HBO won’t that be great?
We fell asleep in the first five minutes of The Sopranos
We woke up in each other’s arms
We kissed then lost a couple hours
And then we tried to find our clothes
All scrunched up in the covers
We thought that was a pretty good start
To our great adventure
My dad said, “Take Highway 19, son
It’ll shave two hours off Charleston
But in Summersville remember to slow down
That speed trap is the absolute worst”
You said, “Slow down, we’re making time
There isn’t any finish line”
I said, “We’re only doing 55”
That’s when the flashing lights came up behind us
The cop sauntered up to the window
Said, “65 in a 50 zone”
I said, “There’s no way
You must have the wrong car in your radar”
We left $200 lighter
On our great adventure
She yelled, “Stop,” I tried to brake
The swerve part was a bad mistake
Whatever we hit I heard it break
Soon we both started crying
Finally we turned around
And drove the half an hour down
To lay that turtle in the ground
But we didn’t have a shovel or anything
Through the tunnel, ’round the mountains
Up and down to Winston-Salem
On the edge of Greensboro
We caught some college radio
But they never said
What those songs were
The sign said 12 miles to Chapel Hill
She smiled and leaned on the windowsill
The rental place was nice but still
We had to get some groceries
We fought over the price of ham
And Bounty versus the Kroger brand
In the checkout line
We wondered could we stand each other’s company
We cuddled up in front of the TV
And ate our ham and cranberry
On brown bread with a slice of cheese
And retired to the bedroom
And that was only the very start
Of our very long
And very wonderful
Very great adventure
~ Dan Bryk