Tired of the same old Christmas tunes? These new collections deviate from the norm.

Here we are, days before Christmas settles in, and the sounds of the season are beginning to sound a bit, well … ripe.

Maybe it’s because select airwaves and outlets of commerce have been playing holiday music since September. Or it could simply be that if you hear “Sleigh Ride” one more time you’re just going to snap.

Well, don’t succumb to Scrooge-dom as the holidays arrive. Here are four immensely recommended new Christmas-related albums that deviate from the familiar (and, in some cases, become seriously deviated) to honor the simple but sometimes neglected art of simply having fun this time of year — even if that fun is triggered with ample sarcasm.

What these new records by JD McPherson, The Old 97s, The Mavericks and Rodney Crowell have in common is that the same old sing-a-long carols have largely been ditched in favor of original works that detail, among other things, a child marked for life on the naughty list, a potential mate for reindeer Rudolph and a suggestion of passing on the holiday season altogether.

Leading the pack is McPherson’s “Socks,” an 11-song sampler of original tunes fortified not only with the Okie rocker’s swift command of roots music jubilance but also a sense a G-rated seasonal fun turned on its ear.

The title tune, for instance, is a brooding reflection of an eager kid’s least favorite Christmas gift but snaps to life with an abundance of Elvis-esque essentials, from the Jordinaires-style backup vocals to McPherson’s own rockabilly swagger.

“Bad Kid” ups the ant with a thoroughly non-kitschy retro drive that colors the saga of a wayward child’s unavoidable wickedness (“I can’t help it if I was born like this, a permanent spot on the naughty list”).

Almost as much fun is “Love the Holidays,” the first seasonal set by The Old 97s. The title tune opens the album with the kind of atomic cowpunk shuffle singer Rhett Miller and company long ago fashioned into an earmark sound for the band.

It’s a drive that carries over into “Gotta Love Being a Kid” and “Rudolph Was Blue,” a tune detailing the famed sleigh-leader’s search for reindeer romance. More settled originals like “Wintertime in the City” balance out the fun.

“Love the Holidays” is also the only entry here that makes a nod to the ghosts of Christmas songs past with an album-ending quartet of covers highlighted by a take on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” that sounds like it rode in off an episode of “Rawhide.”

The Mavericks’ “Hey! Merry Christmas!” is slightly more derivative but still plenty of fun. It’s derivative in the sense that the chugging, multi-cultural rhythms on tunes like “Christmas Time Is (Coming ‘Round Again”) and “One More Christmas” sound like they were pulled directly from any number of past Mavericks albums.

But it’s such a richly textured sound, referencing Tex Mex, Cuban pop and Phil Spector’s vintage orchestrations with Raul Malo’s tirelessly jovial vocals leading the charge, that it’s tough to find fault with the familiar.

The Mavericks’ also get bonus points for the clever double entendre rocker “Santa Wants to Take You for a Ride.”

Finally, we have “Christmas Everywhere” from country/Americana veteran Crowell. The song titles suggest a dour affair — “Christmas Makes Me Sad,” “Christmas for the Blues” and especially “Let’s Skip Christmas This Year.”

The music matching these greetings, though, is quite spirited, ranging from gypsy swing to brassy roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll. Things turn quite poignant, though, for “Christmas in New York,” a lighter reverie of new beginnings.

The title track of the Crowell album, though, puts the home stretch of the holiday shopping in sobering, and perhaps necessary, perspective. “Shoppers lined up out the door, traffic backed up miles or more. It’s Christmas time, so what the heck. Let’s go spend the whole paycheck.”

Wine and Wells One the last but coolest pre-Christmas celebrations in Lexington commences Dec. 22 at The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd.

The occasion is Justin Wells’ 4th Annual Wine and Dine, a double-header concert treat with a meal thrown in. What that translates into is a 7:15 p.m. dinner catered by Roll ‘n’ Smoke with an accompanying performance by regional traditional music favorites The Local Honeys.

Wells, with his former Fifth on the Floor bandmate Jason Parsons opening, will then play a more traditionally designed evening club show at 8:30. Tickets are $25 for dinner and both performances and $15 if you want to skip the grub and come late for the evening show only. For tickets, go to theburlky.com.

This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Tired of the same old Christmas tunes? These new collections deviate from the norm.."