A Very She & Him Christmas review

For some of us, Christmas is forced to start on November 1st.  By the time the 25th of December rolls around we just wanna open some packages, eat a bird, and go back to bed.  When you work around Christmas for nearly two months you get pretty tired of Christmas music pretty fast.

Except for Hanson's Christmas album, "Snowed In".

So on a whirl I picked up this album, A Very She & Him Christmas, mostly because I have a little crush on Zooey Deschanel and because the album artwork looked like a classic Christmas record from the 1960's.

The Good:  This CD really does feel like a classic Christmas.  It could blend quite nicely with images of Charlie Brown.  At first listen, I closed my eyes and it felt like my parents were in the room with me.  That's not really what I ask for in Christmas music (my usual taste is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNZ1aZip1oc), so I was pleasantly surprised to get it.  Zooey's voice is almost hypnotic - it's so warm and cozy sounding you'll want to leave milk and cookies for her.
As far as songs go, the classics are here: "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "Silver Bells", and "Blue Christmas".  And they aren't too long either.  I've heard some renditions in the past that take a little pretty Christmas ditty and repeat verses just to make it reach the 3:40 mark of a hit song.  "Sleigh Ride" is just perfect and makes me want to make hot chocolate and snuggle with my lovely wife.
I really liked the packaging, as mentioned before, but when you open it up there's a little Christmas card to you from the group.  It's clever, and until I get a real card from someone (having your own fan club can be lonely sometimes y'know...) I might just hang this one up on my wall.

The Bad:  While their voices blend well together, I don't care so much for M. Ward's vocals on his own.  And while the songs are nice n' short, we could've had a few more.  Sixteen dollars for twelve songs doesn't add up.  I would've loved to hear their rendition of "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)".  I also could have done without this version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - if only because Zooey's A-Capella-shower-version with Will Ferrel from Elf will always be my favorite.

The Verdict: Are the 12 songs worth the price?  That's really up to you to decide.  But this is a Christmas album that's pure and honest.  You can feel that Deschanel and Ward are enjoying playing these songs, which makes it very real as a listener.  We may live in a world where Christmas has gone commercial, but this record takes us back to simpler times.