Now This Is a Christmas Album We Can Get Behind

Ho, ho, ho, and a hardy boy howdy: Does White Rose Motor Oil have a holiday album for you!

But this isn’t your typical Christmas record. No, Merry Crisis, released independently on November 14, is a raucous, romp-and-roll stocking-stuffer filled with everything from the Ramones and Dolly Parton to new twists on old standards, courtesy of Denver’s very own cowpunk power couple, Eryn DeSomer and Keith Hoerig-DeSomer.

The collection of eight covers and long-held originals has been in the hopper for at least a year — or more in some cases, as the two have played a few of them out before and even previously laid down some home-recorded demos.

“They were 100 percent DIY, done in our living room,” Keith, the band’s drummer, says of the earliest versions of half the tracks that ended up on Merry Crisis.

But it wasn’t until earlier this year that the members of White Rose Motor Oil decided to give the music a more professional touch, hitting the Mousetrap Recording Studio with local producer Brian Hunter and really packaging it all together.

“We had some songs last year after we played a holiday show in December,” says Eryn, who handles guitar and vocals, “and we were like, ‘We have these eight songs, why don’t we go record them?’ We went into the studio in January, and in one day we did all of these songs. God bless our producer, because he’s a miracle worker. What we gave him was definitely a one-day recording session.”

It’s not that they had to rush it, but they were more than ready to polish up some songs. For example, “First Song About Santa” is the oldest track; the couple originally performed it with a former group, the Jekylls, as far back as 2014.

Then there’s the cadre of covers, particularly “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight),” a rendition of the Ramones’ 1987 punk-infused carol, and “Hard Candy Christmas,” Dolly Parton’s song that was included on the soundtrack of the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It’s also been covered by numerous artists. including Cyndi Lauper and Reba McEntire.

“We’ve been honing our Christmas covers for years,” Eryn says. “We started doing those ones back during COVID.” (The songs were demoed back then, too.)

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” are more traditional Christmas jingles. Then there’s “The Feminist’s Santa Baby,” Eryn’s updated, and some might say much-needed, take on the well-known novelty song, which she wrote shortly after the election.

“I was fired up and came home one day, and we were talking about possible songs to learn for this upcoming holiday show we had,” she explains. “We were thinking about doing ‘Santa Baby,’ and I was like, ‘I can’t sing these words.’ There’s nothing wrong with the original ‘Santa Baby,’ but I was just like, ‘This isn’t where my head is at. Wonder if I just rewrote it?’”

It didn’t take her long to tweak the lyrics to fit more modern sensibilities. The result is “a light-hearted break,” as she sees it, even though the sentiment is just as relevant now as when she wrote it.  

“I was hoping that by this November, December, it maybe wouldn’t be as applicable. But I feel like right now, especially with everything that’s going on, [the Epstein] files and women’s stuff and victims coming out, it’s probably really important,” Eryn says. “I’m really glad that I wrote it. I feel like it was the right thing to do. I had a lot of fire, so I really wanted it to fit neatly, too.”

Rounding out the record is White Rose Motor Oil’s own “Broken Heart Holiday” and “Sublime Majestic Orb,” inspired by an art piece from Toronto creator Arcane Bullshit. Overall, Merry Crisis is indicative of the mad mix that Keith and Eryn have created since 2018 — outlaw country-meets-raw punk, hip to what’s going on and not afraid to call out all the bullshit. A release show is set for Sunday, December 21, at Lost Lake. Local acts Sugar Britches, Ethyl and the Regulars, and Aubrey Dale will also be spreading holiday cheer…or jeer.

White Rose Motor Oil’s set will benefit PorchLight, with the couple donating any proceeds made that night and matching them. The Colorado nonprofit is “a Family Justice Center (FJC) that provides comprehensive legal, emotional and critical supportive services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, abuse of at-risk individuals, elder abuse, and human trafficking,” according to the organization’s mission statement.

So White Rose Motor Oil knows what’s up. Even the latest album title, while a tongue-in-cheek reference to an old Vine video (remember that, Millennials?), is apropos for current times. “I was like, ‘We have to call it Merry Crisis,’ and it was right after the election, so it just seemed like a really appropriate holiday album name,” Eryn says.

Unbeknownst to them, the slogan had mysteriously appeared during the 2008 civil unrest in Athens, Greece, when a fifteen-year-old boy was killed by a police officer, and had surfaced in other places around the world to signal societal tension. “We were researching it,” Keith says, “and found out in other countries they’ve used that phrase for their own political upheaval.”

But they’re not just singing about it. Since the election, the couple’s spearheaded an effort called Project 2029, which includes supporting a different nonprofit each month through the end of the current administration. “We’re trying to find nonprofit organizations that we think are trying to help make the world better and donate to them,” Keith says, “or just raise awareness about what they’re doing, just support them in any way that we can.”

So far, they’ve donated to Youth on Record, Trans Youth Equality Foundation, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, among a dozen more.

“Usually, it’s often related to whatever’s going on in the news,” Eryn explains. “Basically, whatever people are up in arms about or people we disagree with are making a big stink about, we’re just trying to quietly go in and be like, ‘Okay, we’re going to support the people who are fighting you.’ Even if we can’t do a lot, we can do a little.”

Hell, yeah! That’s rawhide punk. White Rose Motor Oil’s latest single, “Hit in the Face!,” released in April, is a rallying cry around that ethos, or a “fighting song full of fightin’ words,” as they like to look at it. The title was taken from Eryn’s young nephew, who made a factious remark about how it’s okay to beat up on his brother, but the song itself is another post-election postulation.

“I needed to write a song about basically how it’s okay to stand up to bullies,” she says. “We don’t have to take this lying down.

“Obviously, we don’t encourage anyone to actually go around physically hitting people in the face, but we do encourage standing up to bullies,” she adds. “We’re going for figurative or just punch-dance out your rage to the song, especially when people come out to see us live. It’s an opportunity to get our anger out, punch the air.”

The track will be part of White Rose Motor Oil’s next LP, along with several current setlist staples that are waiting to be prepped and put together for a proper release sometime next year. “They’re pretty well done and dusted, they’re ready to go on an album,” Eryn says. “I’m pretty excited about this album. I think it’s going to be pretty freakin’ cool.”

In the meantime, celebrate the wonkiness of the end of the year with Merry Crisis.

“Approaching the holidays this year with this sense of humor we tried to bring to this album has actually really helped,” Eryn says, while admitting she’s not feeling very festive at the moment. “It’s this opportunity to scream out your rage. It just takes the edge off of the actual frustration of everything that’s going on. Music’s always helpful for that. But holiday-wise, it’s definitely a weird year.”

A little wintery weather wouldn’t hurt, though.

“I’m ready for it to snow,” Keith concludes. “I think that’ll help with feeling like the holidays a little bit. But the other stuff that’s going on makes it a troublesome holiday.”

White Rose Motor Oil, with Sugar Britches, Ethyl and the Regulars, and Aubrey Dale, 4 p.m. Sunday, December 21, Lost Lake, 3602 East Colfax. Tickets are $25.