Quirky talent Laura Weinbach leads Foxtails Brigade into a world without Christmas.

Classical guitarist Laura Weinbach started thinking about Christmas on the Fourth of July. 


“I wasn’t looking forward to it,” she says. “My family has kind of been divided over the last couple years and [Christmas] has been something I’ve dreaded ever since.”


Weinbach’s distaste of the holiday season ended up yielding genius in the form of a song called, “I’m Not Really in the Christmas Mood.”


The tune – found on Foxtails Brigade’s most recent album, Time is Passed, featuring multi-instrumentalist Anton Patzner – is one of a collection of 10 songs that Weinbach calls a “sort-of-Christmas album to keep you company when you’re bummed.”


“I’m Not Really in the Christmas Mood” stands out like the North Star on a clear night in Bethlehem. Weinbach incorporates a touch of gypsy jazz and Billie Holiday that can make even the most diehard Christmas fan fall in love with despising the holiday, at least for the length of the tune. 


“Families are fickle things in reality/ and tenderness has lost its clear/ so I’m not really in the Christmas mood this year.”


The accompanying video – featuring Weinbach milling around a home fully decorated on Christmas Eve – is reminiscent of a Todd Solondz movie where everything looks perfect on the outside but really, there’s some dark stuff looming underneath the surface.


Foxtails Brigade – performing Saturday at the Alternative Café – is planning on releasing a new album sometime this year and the enchanting plucks of Weinbach’s classical guitar will surely be just as rich and masterful, though she remains genuinely surprised by her own abilities.


“The more I play, the more I hear my imperfections,” she says. “Maybe that’s just natural and hopefully doesn’t mean the end of everything.” 


FOXTAILS BRIGADE plays 8pm Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Alternative Cafe, 1230 Fremont Blvd., Seaside. $5. 583-0913.