December's discs due to drop

Following up their debut full-length, slack-pop rockers the Drabs have a holiday-themed EP out this week, Here Comes the Joy, available on CD and featuring original tracks “Santa’s Got Toys,” “This Year,” “Mary Christmas,” and “Pub Crawl.” Recorded and mixed by Ben Moore, it includes guest appearances from A.J. Croce and Gayle Skidmore.

Prog-reggae purveyors Reason to Rebel will premiere their EP This Gun Is Human on December 19 at Soda Bar. According to singer Luke Chandler, “Our show will feature guest appearances, collaborations, and audience participation. This being our sixth album, our first vinyl release, and it’s happening right in the middle of the holidays, an event like this feels like a family affair. Soon after this show, we’ll be leaving for a three-week tour of the southern U.S., and we’ll be on the road a good portion of next year.”

Nathan Hubbard’s jazzy Cascadia Calling, featuring live solo works from 2000 through 2014, is being released in two volumes over two months, though it’s unknown where this month’s edition debuting December 22 will be supplemented with a local performance. “The release concert will mostly likely be a guerrilla site-specific spot,” says Hubbard. “The location will be announced from my website the week of the concert.”

Reunited ’80s mod rockers Manual Scan will debut their new album, The Pyles Sessions, at the Casbah on December 23. It’s their first new recordings in more than two decades. “The CD version will have a couple of bonus tracks, including a version of ‘Walk the Beat,’ recorded live at the Casbah with Chris Sullivan and Chris Davies of the Penetrators sitting in,” says frontman Bart Mendoza. The album also features covers of songs by the Easybeats, the Who, Hoodoo Gurus, and 20/20.

Also new this month: Yale Strom’s Klezmer-Romani fusion CD City of the Future: Yiddish Songs from the Former Soviet Union, which features arrangements of music originally performed by youth choirs; and Matt Vasquez’s (Delta Spirit) Austin EP, inspired by the hometown he recently moved back to, with a single for “Everything I Do Is Out” currently streaming online.