Pitchfork

A Christmas song by the Knife is an immediately intriguing proposition-- their funhouse mirror aesthetic is so mismatched to the quietly poignant/schmaltzy tunes we associate with the season. So the possibility of a song about a demonic zombie Rudolph leading a revolt of other demonic zombie reindeer, and toy-making elves turned soul-sucking druids with the intention of permanently putting an end to Christmas and enslaving humans is just too good to resist.

Unfortunately, "Christmas Reindeer" shows almost none of the excitement and imagination of Silent Shout. In fact, the song's "reindeer reindeer reindeer" opening is an exact crib of the "The Dreidel Song"'s "dreidel dreidel dreidel" melody and phrasing. There's a reason for this disconnect in quality: "Christmas Reindeer" is five years old, though this version adds sleigh bells and, due to the absence of an ill-advised guitar solo on the original version, is shorter. The changes are negligible; the song is still one big interminable anticlimax. When Olof's background grunting begins to sound like snoring, you can finally relate. With the deserved success of Silent Shout behind them, the Knife should be making New Year's resolutions, not rehashing old missteps.