The holiday season is upon us. Stores are ridiculously packed to the ceiling with those fabulously personalized prepackaged gift boxes. Tenants engage in battle for the house with the most visually abusive display of lights. Thankfully, there is always the strong, strong eggnog that makes it all a little bit less abrasive.

And there is always the music. Yes, walking down the grocery-store aisle it is a mighty task to fight humming those all too familiar tunes.

Why fight it, really? Should the public-store venue prove a little too intimidating for your vocal stylings of the Muzak tunes, there are alternatives. Christmas caroling, of course, is one viable option. Wouldn’t it be lovely to wander around in the blistering cold with friends and share a personal rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas?”

But maybe caroling does not prove to be a viable outlet for those songs that need to be released from your soul? The best bet is settling in at the Slipper Club this Saturday night for the release of Arena Venus’ Yuletide Swank.

Though a slight divergence from the group’s fiercely power-pop style (fear not, these tunes will also make their appearances), this is one swagger many will enjoy getting in step with. Composed of guitarist Dan Hicks, drummer Dave Ross, bassist Andrew Yonda and vocalist Courtney Collins, Arena Venus puts some fabulous new spins on the old classics and spices it up with a few new tunes.

Yuletide Swank‘s opening tune, “Santa Baby,” offers up a prime example of Venus Arena’s deft ability to reinvent the conventional in a fascinating way. Refusing to conceal the song’s innate sensuality, Collin’s uses her alto register and crystal clear elocution to really tell the song’s story.

“I’d Like You For Christmas” is one such zesty addition. Collins’ vocals, sweltering in the jazzy prolongation of her notes, will get her just about anything she wants underneath the tree. The backing doo-wop harmonies give the perfect aura of a chill lounge act, a mood that is prevalent throughout the record.

The choice of this musical expression for sharing the holiday spirit is indeed the real kicker. Arena Venus could likely succeed in any genre, the elements from each of the individual players are that in tune and that cohesive. The shuffle of the bass lines, the soft and steady beats are encapsulating. This album steps it up with some characteristic power-popiness on one number, then slows it down for another. But the underlying chill is always predominant. With such a hectic season, it is as if Arena Venus is offering listeners a little gift of their own: a reminder to relax just a little and enjoy all the holiday loveliness swirling around.

Arena Venus will not be the sole sharer of holiday spirit on the Slipper Club’s stage. The Melismatics will travel from Minneapolis to rock around and the Treats are rumored to be creating a few Christmas tune renditions of their own. Before the sullenness toward Jolly Old St. Nick and his ever-present musical genre set in, take advantage of all the joy and jolliness this show will surely exude.