It may be hard to believe, but 2018's
Christmas Party is the first Christmas record
the Monkees ever released. Chalk this up to the band breaking up in 1970, long before Christmas records were common among rockers, but 2018 is also the right time for
the Monkees to deliver a Christmas record because the group figured out how to make the right kind of modern
Monkees album with 2016's
Good Times! A clever combination of made-to-order originals and gussied-up old recordings, the
Adam Schlesinger-produced
Good Times! managed to feel simultaneously fresh and familiar, a combination that lends itself well to holiday albums.
Christmas Party contains many of the same collaborators as
Good Times! --
Schlesinger returns as producer and he co-wrote "House of Broken Gingerbread" with
Michael Chabon, while
Andy Partridge,
Rivers Cuomo, and
Peter Buck &
Scott McCaughey all deliver new songs -- and it has the same feel, blurring the lines between the past and present so thoroughly that it no longer matters to discover where they're separated.
Schlesinger's presence is also a tell that
Christmas Party leans into power pop: the back half contains versions of
Alex Chilton's "Jesus Christ,"
Roy Wood's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day," and
Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," each sounding at home in this smartly self-referential version of
the Monkees. If the two
Davy Jones songs aren't as successful as those on
Good Times!, it's only because the tracks date from somewhere after the '60s, so he's not as boyish as he sounded on the last record. Then again, both
Mike Nesmith and
Peter Tork carry their ages well, helping to give this a nice sentimental undercurrent, while
Micky Dolenz remains something of a small wonder. All these years later, he sounds cheerful and committed singing these songs, acting out the
Partridge,
Cuomo, and
Buck &
McCaughey songs with gusto, and his enthusiasm is infectious. He's having a great time, as is everybody else making the record, and it's hard for the listener at home not to smile too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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