The Ukranians - Merry Christmas Everybody

So here it is� The Ukrainians' unique, fast and furious, vodka-fuelled version of Merry Christmas Everybody which gives you an idea of what Slade might have sounded like if they'd come from Ukraine's industrial city of Sloviansk instead of Wolverhampton!

Also featured on the Merry Christmas Everybody EP are two special tracks: a beautiful, relatively-unknown traditional Ukrainian carol that the band recently discovered called V Halitskiy Zemli ('In the Galician Land'), and Kolyadka, a self-penned carol that has been unavailable since The Ukrainians' 1991 12-inch vinyl only debut, the NME single of the week Oi Divchino.

The Ukrainians are notorious for their Ukrainian language versions of classic Western pop songs. They have also released their unique 'Ukrainianised' versions of songs by The Sex Pistols, The Smiths, T-Rex, Prince, Motorhead and The Velvet Underground.

OK... it's time to play your copy of Merry Christmas Everybody. First sink a swift shot of ice-cool vodka. Secondly, turn the volume up to '11'. Now give in to those beautiful melodies, the poetry of the Ukrainian language and the pure, life-affirming energy of the music...