Alternative Christmas

Bah-humbug! For those of you out there who thought maybe Scrooge had a point, and need shelter from the endless bombardment of carols and cheesey Christmas covers, here's a list straight from Yuletide's leftfield. The Flaming Lips wonder if its beyond the capacity of the human race to feel Xmas sympathy for those who suffer, while No Doubt raises everyone's spirits with some ska on "Oi to the World". If Santa's getting you down, our Next Steps will cheer you up . . .

"It's Christmas time again / It's time to be nice to the people you can't stand" – there's not much joy and good will underneath blink-182's tree, but the energy of the track ("I Won't Be Home for Christmas") more than compensates for the failings of the season. David Gedge leads the Wedding Present in a splendid cover of Elton John's "Step Into Christmas", while Mark E Smith of the Fall toasts the fact the "all the politicians are on holiday". 'Tis the season to be jolly angry . . . in Deep Cuts.

There's nothing like a dose of punk to cut through the holiday nonsense – and the Vibrators do just that with "I Hate Christmas". Ditto Stiff Little Fingers with their fuzzed-up mutilation of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", a song that has sold over 100 million all told, and was popularised by Bing Crosby . . . who famously dueted with David Bowie "Little Drummer Boy" — here, that track gets an injection of rock from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

We know how you feel about Christmas — where some people see good cheer, you see hollow jollity; where's there's tinsel, you see tarnish; and in place of a rosy-cheeked, white bearded, red-suited barrel of fun from the North Pole, you see a fat alcoholic in an ill-fitting costume fronting yet another tacky commercial assault on the nation's collective wallet. Yet still, you feel happy, mainly because all the artists on this Alternative Christmas Essentials list feel pretty much the same way that you do, and they've tickled the underbelly of Yuletide so that even the most cynical among you can raise a glass, and a smile.