Das Wanderlust - Someone to Pull Crackers With

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 13 / 12 / 2009

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Review

Capping off a year in which they released their debut album and celebrated five years as a band, Das Wanderlust set themselves the task of releasing a totally irony-free festive single, celebrating both the spirit of Christmas and the tradition of seasonal songs. I knew this before I heard the track, but even so I found myself hugely surprised by just how earnest ‘Someone to Pull Crackers With’ is. I suppose a part of me just couldn’t quite believe that anyone could release a Christmas single without a bit of tongue-in-cheek, winking-at-the-camera type “isn’t this silly” business thrown in. Maybe I’ve just grown too accustomed to sneering cynicism, but for the first two minutes of this track I kept expecting the band to jump out from behind the musical curtains and shout, “Aha!!! You gullible idiot! Look at you genuinely enjoying Christmas, hahahahahaha” etc. What I actually got was a song which successfully negotiates a very tricky path; genuinely embracing the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ (™) without falling into cloying sentimentality. And it’s an incredibly refreshing listen. It’s really nice to have the pessimism which seems to fuel a lot of creative work these days put to one side and listen to a song which just wants to point out how lovely it is to have someone special to share the holidays with. Another reason I was surprised when I first heard this song is that it’s something of a departure musically for Das Wanderlust. This is miles away from anything they’ve released in the past, and it’s exciting to hear a band testing themselves and experimenting with different styles – particularly when those experiments pay off so well. With the band having recently ditched their entire back catalogue to focus entirely on new material, one can’t help but see this single as a tantalising taster for things to come. If you’ve yet to get into the seasonal spirit, I couldn’t think of a better way to get yourself feeling festive than by going over to Das Wanderlust’s website (www.daswanderlust.co.uk) and downloading ‘Someone to Pull Crackers With’. It’s free, with an encouragement from the band to donate to the Brooke Animal Hospital.

Track Listing:-

1 Someone To Pull Crackers With