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It is time to abandon the ty pical auto-tuned, adolescent v oices o f the season and trade them in for the raspy

warbling of bearded men with harpsic hords.Around this time each year, in a still-nascent January , ev eryone starts to de-sy nc the Christmas music from

their mp3 players. The kitschy songs that have dominated our headphones for the previous month are putback into sto rage until we dust them off and break them back out again in a little less than a year.

But many times we fail to realize that these tracks are not only obsolete, but they are also a representation ofsuch a small sliver of what is available to meet our festive needs. Now that youre removing them from youriPod for a few seasons, consider what you might replace them with next time you prepare to ring in theyuletide.

Instead of staying loyal to the Billboard top charts, listeners should branch out and expand their palates toinclude some indie rock Christmas songs that deserve muc h more love than listeners give them.

First of all, to clear up any misconceptions, there is no shortage of cross-genre holiday music. The popular

online playlist generator Songza published what they called Natty and Nice: A Reggae Christmas to theirwebsite for fans interested in hearing sleigh bells jux taposed with ste el drums. And EDM powerhouse Kaskadereleased a mix c alled Mistletoe and Holly for anyone who tho ught the beat of Frank Sinatras original versionneeded an update.

But the indie rock genre operates with a uniquely serious handicap in terms of finding recognition for itsholiday hy brids. There is a stock roster o f names that rec eive the lions share of the seasonal attention: MariahCarey , Justin Bieber and Michael Bubl, to name a few. They hog the spotlight and make it incredibly difficultfor listeners to notic e anything outside of the pop genre.

Among the ty pic al lists of top holiday singles, liste ners are hard-pressed to find something that is not a cov er

of a jingle dating back to another generation. The artists that do decide to go against the grain and produce ahomegrown song can easily come off as vapid. With many songs that limit their subject variety to cuddlinginside or merely noticing the prec ipitation, the bar that standard Christmas music sets is not that high.

Take, for example, the passive-aggressive Happy Karma Christmas by Sufjan Stevens. His folksy crooning

on the trac k describes his reflections on his unreciproc ated feelings for another. Stevens karma girl is not inlov e with him, but he still sends her his seasons greetings and well wishes.

Its a decent song, but it is not anything spectacular. At only three and a half minutes, the song contains a lot

of lyrical repe tition. The gradual shift toward electronic ambience at the end isnt appealing for ev ery one. Evenso, it still represents a lot more emotionally and rhapsodically than a winter Billboard goliath like JustinBiebers original Mistletoe.

Its the most beautiful time of the year, Bieber slowly sings at the beginning of the song, with the most

lackluster imagery possible. Lights fill the streets spreading so much cheer. Really, there is nothing to thissong aside from Biebers name recognition, which unjustly catapults it to a comfortable position of infinitelymore notoriety than any so lid yuletide indie ballad, and that is a genuine shame.

For those that argue that the Christmas music genre is rightfully dominated by modern renditions of

infallible and timeless classics, stray ing from the norm should be encouraged.

The Dandy Warhols have a wonderful version of Little Drummer Boy, and the venerable Death Cab For

Cutie made a lov able cov er of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). Both are rendered with a dreamy qualitythat makes them feel much more intimately apropos to a season of warm fireplaces and sleepy afternoons incozy pajamas than their mainstream counterparts.

These indie rock Christmas songs, no matter how charming, will never become as popular as the holiday

albums put out by the likes of Bieber or Cee Lo Green. It is in large part bec ause Christmas music is centered insuch a niche market that only exists for approximately a two-month time span. The pop genre has the bignames that sell quickly and inev itably lead to a more successful diffusion than lesser-known indie acts.

But indie rock, as a genre, is incredibly versatile. It can cover angst, cheer, pensiveness and celebration in

way s that alway s se em to be re latable. When these bands decide to pic k up their acoustic guitars or banjos and

throw their hats into the ring, they manage to produce songs that stay true to their omnipresent emotionalrelev ance. Their capacity to take our feelings and turn them into heartwarming choruses or rhythmic chantey sis not limited to just 11 mo nths of the year.

When y oure packing your holiday music into digital storage to await the nex t winter season, remember that

indie rockers should not disappear from our collective musical radars in December just because they talk

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about their feelings rather than just whimsically talking about holiday decorations or hot c oc oa.The holiday season can be as much about being alone under the mistletoe as it can be about canoodling

under it. And while this genre can cover both ends of the spectrum, bubblegum pop tends to be superficiallyfocused on only the good parts. What indie original works lack in prolificacy are made up for in diversity ofcontent. Its cov ers, though less marketable, hav e an endearing homeliness to them that warrant a more carefulconsideration when putting together nex t ye ars holiday play list.

There is quite enough Bubl, thank you very much. His borderline monopoly of the Christmas music genre

needs to stop, and preferably not return.