Families across America play classic Christmas songs, such as “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, or Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” throughout the house during the holiday season. But these songs dominate the radio from Thanksgiving to Dec. 25 every year, causing some to get sick of the older tunes quickly. Though the classics are irreplaceable, there’s nothing wrong with shaking up the season of giving with newer, faster, and, sometimes, even better covers to get you in the holiday spirit.

Alternative rock and punk bands have done covers of classic holiday songs. “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas” by Blink-182 dates back to 1997, but wasn’t released until 2001 as an extended play. This punk rock Christmas vibe snowballed into an entire new genre of holiday tunes. Albums such as Jimmy Eat World’s Christmas EP, Weezer’s “Christmas With Weezer,” Relient K’s “Let it Snow Baby… Let it Reindeer,” are just a few of the alternative rock holiday tunes. The Plain White T’s single, “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas,” has also been a favorite among fans. More recently, The Killers released “(RED) Christmas” in 2011, and Bowling For Soup has “Merry Flippin’ Christmas Vol. 1 and 2.” In October of this year, August Burns Red came out with the album, “Sleddin’ Hill: A Holiday Album,” featuring the hit song, “Carol of the Bells.”

Coming out this year is Blink-182’s new Christmas digital EP, “Dogs Eating Dogs,” expected to be released Dec. 18. This is their first new song since 2011’s “Neighborhoods,” and pre-order bundles including hoodies and posters are already available on Alterthepress.com and blink182.com.