Seattle DJ Brian Foss has been spinning records at the legendary independent radio station KEXP in the Emerald City since 2004. He and his show co-producers run Sonic Reducer every Saturday night in the city.
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But Foss carries with him another important distinction—he is the annual Christmas DJ at the station, spinning his seemingly never-ending number of punk holiday songs. This December 25, Foss will be on the air on KEXP 90.3 FM (and around the world) for 9 hours playing tunes that both give the holiday feels and subvert those same feelings.
“As a kid,” says Foss, “I was never a fan of Christmas songs; however, I did sing the ‘Batman Smells’ version of Jingle Bells on the playground, so subversion was always fun for me. Also, my dad was a record collector who had a fair share of novelty records, so I tend to favor humorous stuff.
“The first time I became aware of a Christmas song I actually liked was Spinal Tap’s ‘Christmas With The Devil’ from the mid-‘80s. I still proudly own a picture disc 45 of this classic.”
American Songwriter caught up with Foss, who also serves as a talent buyer at The Funhouse and Lucky Liquor in Seattle, to ask him about his favorite punk Christmas tunes so that you could increase your holiday playlists.
10. “Santa Claus” by The Freak Outs
“Ok, this is on a record I put out from my old club, but I never get tired about a zombie Santa eating brains.”
9. “Mrs. Claus Has Menopause” by The Sterilles
“Midnight Records out of NYC put out three solid punk Xmess records – this track by The Sterilles is a memorable one.”
8. “Coke 4 Xmas” by Fuck You & The Xmas Trees
“I just found this on Bandcamp this year—so fun! There are so so many dumb punk holiday releases on Bandcamp. If you like this, look up The Sled Kennedys, Three Fingers, Two Inch Winky—there are tons!”
7. “Christmas On Earth” by Vibravoid
“I don’t know much about this German psych-punk act, but I like this track.”
6 “Message To Santa Claus!” by Cheetahs
“This has got your classic ‘I got nuthin’ for Christmas’ message that always seems to resonate with me. Dirty words too!”
5. “There’s No Christmas on the Moon” by Thee Spivies
“More garage punk snottery-isms—always welcome under my Christmas tree!”
4. “Merry Christmas I Fucked Your Snowman” by The Showcase Showdown
“Punk rockers sure do love to cuss. Does humor belong in music? Yes.”
3. “Santa Ain’t Coming For Christmas” by Rocket 455
“This is one of my favorite punk Christmas comps and the snot is flying here, with no hanky available to wipe it up. While there are other good comps out there—The surf-themed Double Crown comps, The Cashing In on Christmas series, the Sympathy For The Record Industry Baby Jesus comp—this one by Flying Bomb records is pretty solid for start to finish.”
2. “Fuck Christmas” by Fear
“Released as their second single, this is undeniably the first thing that pops into my mind when I think ‘punk rock Christmas.’ The fact that the single included a bleeped version of the song on the B-side because they wanted radio airplay never fails to crack me up.”
1. “Don’t Believe in Christmas” by The Sonics
“Are the Sonics punk rock? They are to me. I never get tired of hearing this Northwest classic by these Tacoma natives. ‘Nuff said!”
Photo courtesy Brian Foss
