Monday, December 07, 2020

Teenage Kicks/Peter van Helvoort


Thanks to Santapalooza (give that man a follow) I got introduced to Peter van Helvoort, an Ontario, Canada based musician also working as Teenage Kicks. I'd not heard of him before, turns out the man is a Christmas music fanatic. Last year, he released a Christmas album under his real name (on Bandcamp, on Spotify it's under his Teenage Kicks moniker) with interesting covers and a handful of originals. Some of those tracks date back to 2013. The kickstarter 'Christmas Story' really is a rocking gem:

TK/PvH really knows his classics, and really reworks songs for a cover. Listen to that 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', in a depressed, slow-funked state. Love his (slightly renamed) version of Roger Miller's 'Old Toy Trains' too.

As Teenage Kicks, he just released versions of classics like Toyland and, very nicely done, 'I Hate Christmas' by Oscar the Grouch:

Not Christmas related, but if Americana rock with scruffy vocals (think Tom Petty, think Tragically Hip) is your thing, do listen to this fired up song 'Houdini' by Teenage Kicks. The band no longer exists, alas, but the music remains.

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