Hemmingbirds Release Free Christmas Album

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 16, 2010 6:20PM

Hemmingbirds have a gift for you. The local indie rock band recorded a Christmas album, Carol of the Birds, and they’re giving it away for free in digital form over at their official site. It’s a four-song collection of modern renditions of classic Christmas songs, including a synth-pop cover of “Winter Wonderland” and a punk rendition of “Feliz Navidad,” as well as sweetly-sung versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Let it Snow!” While short and simple, the album is well-composed and does a damn good job of spreading the holiday cheer.

The band has actually been recording Christmas songs for years and this year selected a few favorites, re-mixed and re-mastered them, and slapped on a corny family portrait-style album cover. Seriously corny - look closely and you’ll notice they’re all wearing matching sweaters in different colors. Hemmingbirds will continue to update Carol of the Birds with more holiday tunes as Christmas approaches.

In other Hemmingbirds news, the band announced Monday that they’ll be losing their bassist, Laurence Almalvez. He’ll be going on to pursue other musical endeavors, but not before playing one last show; the whole band will perform for the Salvation Army benefit show this Sunday at the Empty Bottle, presented by Oops! Recordings. Also performing will be local acts Parts Per Million, Republic of Lights, and The Noise FM. Besides entrance into the show, the $10 admission gets you entered into a raffle for the chance to win prizes and gift certificates to local businesses. And because all proceeds go to the Salvation Army, you’ll also get all the warm and fuzzies that come with charitable giving.

Hemmingbirds play the Salvation Army benefit show Sunday, December 19 at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western, 7 p.m., $10, 21+