Those fiendish folk with the hummable, dance-around punk and indiepop song catalogue at Skep Wax Records are up to their festive tricks again right now, adding plenty more goodies for you to put in your basket – online or real, man – to help celebrate the time of the season.

Exhibit A is Swansea Sound’s belting Blue Aeroplanes meets Buzzcocks-tinged happy holiday song, ‘Santa Bail Me Out’, although at time of going to press – as us wizened old hacks don’t tend to say – there were only a few copies left of this rather marvellous three-track CD single (SKEPWAX018), which arrives housed within a special Christmas card.

It’s out tomorrow, December 8^th, which is probably known in retail parlance as White Goods Friday, or something of that nature. Okay, I’m a bit late in sharing such news, seeing as the Bandcamp pre-purchase link was going live (the sort of thing the likes of Phillip Schofield, Sarah Greene, and the surname-less Trevor and Simon would know about, I guess) on 14th November, but it’s definitely worth seeking out among the usual dross of Christmas singles, and there are more details here.

The Christmas card was designed by Swansea Sound co-driver Catrin Saran James, and Skep Wax’s real-life shunner of Daniel Ek’s streaming service, Rob Pursey reckons it will ‘look wonderful on any mantelpiece, and sounds good too.’ And it bloody does, lead track ‘Santa Bail Me Out’ rightly described as an ‘upbeat, headlong, high tempo, singalong tune, celebrating the joys of the festive season when you’re up to your ears in debt.’

‘Hang your stocking on the wall, hope that Santa calls with a nice windfall;

Cos he’s the guy who sorts it out, in his jolly suit, snow-encrusted boots;

‘Oh Santa, bail me out.’

Then there’s the gorgeously wistful ‘Nadolig, Pwy a Wyr?’ and ‘The Life we Led’, different versions of the same song, the first sung in Welsh by the afore-mentioned Catrin, the second in English by Pooh Sticks legend Hue Williams and Talulah Gosh/Heavenly/Marine Research/Catenary Wires chanteuse Amelia Fletcher. As Rob puts it, it’s a ‘catchy, emotional pop song’ that contains ‘fond memories of Christmases past, and strives to uncover the magic and the meaning – to hang on to something significant in an anonymous digitised world.’ I’d add that it’s the kind of song you find on the flipside of a Go-Betweens single and get quietly obsessed by, feeling it’s your own little hip secret. And while over time you’ll realise a few more are in on your secret, you can still pretend it’s only you that knows the Welsh language version, which hits you like a hidden track on The Wicker Man soundtrack. There’s lovely. 

The single is also available in all digital formats and (unusually for Swansea Sound) via streaming services. Apparently, Skep Wax Records plan to donate its streaming revenue from ‘Santa Bail Me Out’ to the 10 highest-earning artists on Spotify, Rob adding, ‘At this special time of the year it feels right to help Spotify in its mission to redistribute money to the rich. Happy Christmas.’ Oh, yes.

So, as Uncle Hue puts it, kids, ‘Sign your name right here, for some festive cheer.’

You should already know this, but Swansea Sound, in which Hue Williams (vocals), Amelia Fletcher (vocals), Catrin Saran James (vocals and artwork) and Rob Pursey (bass) are joined by Ian Button (drums) and Bob Collins (guitar), can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via @soundswansea. You could also do far worse than check out @skepwax while your dial-up t’internet is up and running.

And I shouldn’t need to tell you, although I clearly will, but Swansea Sound released the mighty Twentieth Century in September, one of my albums of the year (with a purchase link here), and marked the occasion later by recording a memorable live session for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on BBC6 Music. There’s a link to my most recent Swansea Sound feature, celebrating Twentieth Century, here, that including links to past WriteWyattUK chats with Rob, Amelia and Hue. You can also find my words on Swansea Sound’s visit to the Talleyrand in Levenshulme, Manchester, in September, here.

I gather there’s also a ‘Santa Bail Me Out’ listening party this Saturday night (December 9th, 9pm), and the band have announced some more gigs for 2024, namely at Tunbridge Wells, Forum Basement,  January 19^th, Folkestone, Twentieth Century Speedway, January 20^th; Swansea, Bunkhouse, February 3^rd; Birmingham, Rock & Roll Brewhouse, February 15th; Glasgow, Mono, February 16^th, and Edinburgh, Leith Depot, February 17^th. There will also be US East Coast dates in June, with details to follow.

Meanwhile, Skep Wax Records are for life, not just for Christmas, so here’s as good a place as any to give you a heads-up (albeit, again, a little later than I’d hoped, but I’m here now, so stop moaning) on Swansea Sound label-mates Heavenly, who have announced a vinyl reissue of their third album, 1994’s The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, a CD re-release of their ‘P.U.N.K. Girl’ single, and shows in Madrid and New York, to name but two magical destinations.

The reissued 13-track album (SKEPWAX019) is set for release on Friday, February 2^nd, available on vinyl LP with a 7” square booklet, including all five tracks from ‘Atta Girl’ and ‘P.U.N.K Girl’, the 1993 7” singles that preceded the LP.

Heavenly featured Amelia Fletcher (guitar, vocals), her brother Mathew Fletcher (drums), Cathy Rogers (guitar, vocals), Rob Pursey (bass), and Peter Momtchiloff (guitar). And as Skep Wax’s mirrorball wizard Amelia put it, ‘These are the songs that earned Heavenly a whole new generation of fans: Tiktoks based on ‘P.U.N.K Girl’ have been liked by millions of teenagers and that song alone has accumulated over seven million Spotify streams. Heavenly’s renewed popularity also led to a recent Guardian feature on the band.’

And it just happens that Skep Wax are releasing a Bandcamp-only CD single of the very same, surf punk pop-flavoured ‘P.U.N.K. Girl’, Heavenly’s most celebrated tune, tomorrow (Friday, 8^th December), coupled with the more guitar, bass and drum-driven dance delight ‘Atta Girl’ (a sparky number sharing a few hallmarks with Cinerama’s ‘Lollobrigida’, which landed seven years later), with t-shirt, badge and postcard bundles also available, with full details at www.heavenlyindie.bandcamp.com.

What’s more, there will be live appearances in 2024. Further announcements follow, but the band are set to play Madrid’s Galileo Galilei on January 27 (tickets) and New York’s Market Hotel on June 1^st (tickets). Heavenly are also on for an acoustic performance at Rough Trade London on January 17^th, in support of These Things Happen, a new book about Sarah Records by Jane Duffus. Meanwhile, the fourth and final Heavenly album, Operation Heavenly, is set to be re-released on vinyl later in 2024.

While Amelia and Rob play in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound these days, Peter features with The Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter. To follow Heavenly on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, type in @heavenlyindie or search via @skepwax. You can also track them down via https://heavenlyindie.bandcamp.com and www.skepwax.com.