Sometimes, and this is especially true of Christmas music, simple is the only way to go. We don’t need a lot of symphonic lusters to appreciate the melody of “Silent Night,” nor do a slew of electric guitar solos induce chills any greater than the simple piano keys of a humble “Jingle Bells,” and I think this is something on the minds of The Tano Jones Revelry when they recently recorded a music video for “The Little Drummer Boy.” Instead of doing what a lot of their peers do in inviting as many theatrics into the fold as possible for this cover, they go barebones with the design – and ultimately turn in something rather decadent as a result.
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The guitar is a vibrant beacon of warmth in this single, but it’s not pushed against the bassline in a way that would generate the kind of conventional tension we would expect out of a normal rock song. Everything in the mix has a bit of space to call its own, and I think that this helps to facilitate a really even feel to the arrangement and all of the different parts in it. The Tano Jones Revelry thinks about details, and that’s obvious here.
When the band kicks together in “The Little Drummer Boy,” it’s absolute magic. You don’t have to be a professional music critic to understand and fall in love with the kinship in their performance, but if you’re as crazy about good pop as I am, you’re bound to walk away from this recording feeling as affected as I did. The Tano Jones Revelry might be deep underground, but they’re playing as though they’ve been alive and well in the headlines not just in 2021 but for many years now.
I could listen to the stylishness of this band all year long probably, but for something particularly Christmas-centric, the wintry “The Little Drummer Boy” was made with you in mind. There’s a lot more to unpack within the context of The Tano Jones Revelry, but for what I know about them through the release of this moving single, I would have to say that it’s going to be worth keeping them on my radar in the years still to come. This is an amazing new look for a classic Christmas anthem, and I hope to hear a lot more content like it from those responsible for its recent arrival.
Kim Muncie