Brave Combo: “It’s Christmas, Man!”: <i> Rounder</i>

Looking for a new collection of holiday songs to evoke the warm fuzzies while you and your honey snuggle up in front of a crackling fire and sip hot toddies? Well, look elsewhere. This absurdly eclectic quartet from Texas puts its manic stamp on classics (such as “O, Christmas Tree,” which gets the samba treatment, and Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts),” a ska version) and four original tunes a la “Santa’s Polka.” They’re delivered with the wide-eyed joy of a kid who got that chemistry set he asked Santa for, and spends Christmas morning seeing what happens when you throw sulfur, calcium carbonate and vinegar into the same test tube. The result--with the album, anyway--is heaps of giddy fun, and far more freshness that one might have thought these tunes had left in them. The Combo also knows when to play it straight: Check out its utterly traditional--and utterly moving--reading of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” And as for the warm fuzzies? Leave ‘em to Bing Crosby.