Full This Christmas Review: December 14, 2000

Full review of the This Christmas single from December 14th, 2000 by Brian Lindamood of the Columbus Alive from the book Are You Making A Sound? The History of The Stepford Five.

This Christmas, the new single from Columbus quartet The Stepford Five, is probably the band's quietest moment yet captured on plastic. The polished big pop of The Stepford Five's previous recordings, and their hard-driving live sound, have been tempered to a mid-tempo lament for the holidays. This Christmas, written by Stepford guitarist Keith Jenkins, adds ethereal electric guitar fills to an acoustic guitar (and sleigh bells!) foundation, but the plaintive lyrics really get their blue-for-the-holidays pathos from Jason Dziak's haunting organ. Hey, even rockers get a little sad when they have to spend Christmas alone.
The holiday single is backed with live acoustic versions of Need to Know and Broken Skin, both originally from the band's terrific full-length Mesh. 

The Stepford Five perform at the Limbs & Light Benefit tonight, December 14, at Little Brother's, with Jerkwater Jive, F** Bomb, The Hellbound Truckers and others.

Full This Christmas Review and Gig Preview: December 14, 2000

Review: Limbs and Light Benefit/Christmas CD by Aaron Beck of the Columbus Dispatch

The sticky sweetness of holiday songs getting you down? The Stepford Five has recorded a Christmas tune that's a bit more down to earth.

This Christmas speaks to the loneliness of spending the holidays alone. Singer/guitarist/sleigh bell maestro Keith Jenkins takes on a weary melancholy as he sings, "This Christmas, stop me from falling apart."

The CD also features two acoustic songs: Need To Know and Broken Skin, recorded live on-air in Otterbein University's WOBN studio. The album is destined to be a collector's item - the band only pressed 100 copies, and they're only available online or at the Five's shows.

Proceeds from the "Limbs and Light" benefit will provide support cash for Miles Smiley, a Canadian man who will be driving a truck filled with medical supplies and artificial limbs to Nicaragua to give to landmine victims. Smiley is on his way to Texas for a New Year's Eve fundraiser and then he's heading to Central America.