There is a pun to the title of
'Tis the SeaSon
, a de facto sequel to
Christmas Island
, the 1996 album that marked
Jimmy Buffett
's first excursion into seasonal cheer. That alone shows that
Buffett
doesn't take
all that seriously, something that comes to the surface on an updated "Twelve Days of Christmas," where he's celebrating eight vintage 8-tracks and five cheeseburgers. This may suggest that his humor gets a bit overbearing, which is true:
always seems on the verge of a smirk, no matter if he's singing chestnuts or his own frivolous originals, of which there aren't many. The key to
is that its spirits are light, upending tradition -- which is referred to via skipping hot dance numbers, a revival of "Mele Kalikimaka," and a version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which has become a seasonal standard -- by delivering it all with a smile. For Parrotheads, there may be no better way to while away a December. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine