David Gogo
Christmas With the Blues

In David Gogo’s case, Christmas With the Blues means super-articulate guitar work, a clean tone, and a weird rant about hippies. “Let’s Get a Real Tree” is the standout track on the Nanaimo-born stringbender’s Yuletide effort, but not necessarily for the right reasons. One of two original tunes on the album, “Let’s Get a Real Tree” finds Gogo beefing about his hybrid-driving, vegetarian girlfriend, just like Robert Johnson used to do. You can’t not notice it. But, hey, Christmas is traditionally when we put out half-assed albums, so it’s all good. Better than good, actually, when Gogo attacks something like Freddie King’s 1961 cut “Christmas Tears” or breathes new life into “Little Drummer Boy”. You’d think we were done with that song by now, but nope, Gogo adds a martial beat, some dobro, and suddenly we’re somewhere between N’Awlins and Calexico. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Der Bingle.