Though originally released as an iPhone app for the popular Tap Tap series Christmas with Weezer has been released as a digital EP that is available now on iTunes and the Amazon music store.

The band makes its way through six Christmas classics, and it's going to be very difficult for you not to experience any third-party embarrassment as a listener. The songs were cut in typical Weezer fashion -- plodding drums, distorted guitars, Rivers' vocals as high in the mix as possible -- and are, if nothing else, unique takes on these classics, though not nearly as much as Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. That said, it's kind of nice to hear a rock band play the songs straight and not epic. Nice enough for the $4.99 price tag? I think I'd rather blow five bucks on another Xmas card from those Californian thieves, Papyrus. -SB