aAre there two artistic expressions more widely maligned than musical comedy and Christmas albums? It would certainly take Santa's sack of talent to redeem both at once. Gaffly Sketch Trio Sheeps have come forward and released their maiden (I can only assume) festive album, A Very Sheeps Christmas. A “musical passion project” by Sheeps' Darran Johnson and Al Roberts, the project was probably 10 years in the making and features 20 original tracks and comedy megastars Rose ( It features a guest vocal appearance by fellow Sheep friend Liam Williams, along with Starstruck) Matafeo and Rory (Ghost). Adefope, Jamie (Stace Letts Flatts) Demetriou and others. Oh, that's certainly very interesting.
A good way to experience it would be at one of the trio's three live gigs this month to launch the album. Getting to know Sheeps better as a live performer made this album even more enjoyable. On record as well as on stage, the joke when Liam Williams opens his lungs to sing is that such a surly, expressionless man should be going for light entertainment in the first place. But Johnson and Roberts are more emphatic here, with a series of songs of sometimes sublime silliness, whether it's Roberts' high-pitched Prince style on the sexy Santa number “Whoo Who Daddy X” or Whatever it gives, lyrically, conceptually, and vocally as well. A sinister little cry is heard in the death-worshiping country and western carols (“That baby's gonna die for me”). There are no rooms at the inn.
Does it make the game feel more diverse? Every type of Christmas song you can imagine is sung here, and then some more than you can imagine. Want 70s rock? It has John Lennon and Slade style vocals. Did the baby Jesus sing praises in the falsetto of a choir boy? Listen to Tiny Baby King. It's a ridiculous hymn to a “very well-behaved” infant savior, a wonderfully loud pious mille-feuille of harmony upon harmony. Elsewhere, a new chapter is written for the seasonal hit “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” in which a cuckolded husband seduces a man referred to throughout this album as “Big Red.” children are singing about how similar they are. Do you want to have a romantic festive duet? Well, this is Johnson and Matafeo's Christmas number one. There's some weight to it about a cheesy saxophone two-hander and partner who's ready to get pissed at Christmas.
The song ends with laughter. You can feel the fun the Sheeps had when creating this song. The fun is nothing special. There are jokes and infectious humor throughout, and sometimes ideas (such as the song about Father Christmas's jealous cousin invading Santa's territory by delivering “bags of wet fish” down people's chimneys) ). It's almost always running. Some songs, like the storyline that unfolds with Adefope's vocals “Mistletoe Umbrella” or the perspective flip in the second half of Demetriou's languid love number (which has shades of Concord's Business Time), Go back and reveal how to tell the best jokes. Christmas sex. Sometimes the gags are the ones that aren't there, as when Charlotte Ritchie sings the lonely lyrics of Santa's abandoned spouse, Mrs. Claus, in the album's richest voice.
As elsewhere, the jokes are punctuated by nice music and direction. The mismatch between absurd lyrics and well-crafted sounds is often entertainment in itself. If Sheeps' lifespan as a live act is numbered, as they've been threatening for years, then this Christmas album should be doubly welcome – it's very entertaining and extremely As an easy-to-listen stunt and an audio-only extension of life, it's probably the funniest three-act piece in British comedy.
