Local Newswire Act So Big Forest rolls out holiday album

Christmas music is, by its very nature, ridiculously giddy and celebratory. While that vibe works pretty well for most folks, if you’re a holiday-hating Scrooge or suffer from seasonal affective disorder, Christmas albums can seem awfully trite and grating by, oh, the day after Thanksgiving. Holiday curmudgeons, cheer up! Or be slightly less down on the world, if that’s the best you can muster: The Fort Collins-based collective Act So Big Forest rolled out its fifth annual holiday album. This year’s installment, Golden Ring, is available for free download, and features 22 cuts from Northern Colorado bands and like-minded humbugs from elsewhere. The collection includes everything from classics (Sareena Dominguez tackles “Blue Christmas”) to new-school numbers about holiday gloom (Sour Boy Bitter Girl’s “I Think God Invented The Pine Beetle To Make Winters Even More Depressing”). And just so you don’t off yourself in a bout of Christmas-induced misery, a few upbeat numbers (a collective version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and Candy Claws’ “Snow Face”) are there to lift your spirits.