by Debra Au
Daily Lobo
Pop quiz: Name five Christmas songs. Easy, right?
Now come up with five Hanukkah songs, and the "Dreidel" song doesn't count because everyone knows that one. No cheating.
That's what I thought. You couldn't even think of one.
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That's why two guys created the group the LeeVees and made an album, Hanukkah Rocks, with fun pop shtick songs over the high Jewish holiday. Strangely enough, the whole project was done in eight days.
Hanukkah Rocks became the brainchild of Adam Gardner and Dave Schneider when each decided the Festival of Lights had been musically overlooked for too long. Even famed songwriters like George and Ira Gershwin and Irving Berlin, all Jewish, only wrote Christmas songs.
Although not very long - half an hour - the majority of tracks deal specifically with the holiday, speaking to the family gatherings, traditional foods and even the alienation of being Jewish during the time of year most marketed around a Christian celebration.
The propulsive song "Goyim Friends" - a Yiddish reference to non-Jews - compares how gentile kids get snowboards, cell phones, iPods and memberships to the latest restricted golf clubs, but Jews can always comically look forward to six packs of socks from their moms and getting every Jewish holiday off from work.
The opening track, "Latke Clan" also sings of Jewish pride: "Santa's cool / But Hanukkah Harry's the man." The next song, "Applesauce vs. Sour Cream," pokes fun at how important it is to choose the right topping for the traditional Hanukkah food of potato cakes.
Hanukkah Rocks also attempts to answer the age-old question that has plagued Jews and Christians alike with the pseudo-techno song, "How Do You Spell Channukkahh?" How many N's and K's should one use? And what about that pesky C at the beginning - does it really belong there or should a Spanish J go in its place? Will anyone ever really know?
The album also touches on some of the aspects of Jewish life - although a little stereotypically - such as "Jewish Girls (At the Matzoh Ball)," a wistful tale of boy meets girl at the Jewish Community Center and how happy his mother will be that he's taking home a member of the tribe, and "At the Timeshare," that utopia in Florida where Jewish people go when they turn 62.
But perhaps the best part about the CD is you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy it - just like challah bread or gelts - aka those chocolate gold foiled-covered coins gentiles get in their stockings. Its upbeat energy and poppy guitar choruses will have everyone hungry for some Kugel and gathering around the table to play some high-stakes dreidel.
Hopefully, Hanukkah Rocks will spark a new genre. Who's up for some Now That's What I Call Hanukkah! Vol. 1? I wonder how they'd spell it.
