Nothing says holiday cheer like a severed, snarling deer head, which is why The New Pornographers chose such an image to grace the cover of their new Christmas EP, The Spirit of Giving, available now on iTunes.

The three-song EP kicks off with the Dan Bejar-helmed Challengers track, "The Spirit of Giving." In typical Bejar fashion, the lyrics are cryptic and only hint at any Christmasyness. And besides the title, the only overtly seasonal line is "Overcome with the holiday spirit/ Mark says the herald angels won't hear it."

Next up is the unreleased "Joseph, Who Understood," which opens with the great line, "Rumors are flyin' all over Galilee these days/ And Mary I'm tryin' to be cool." An A.C. Newman and Neko Case duet, the second song tells the story of the Immaculate Conception from Joseph's point of view. As the story goes, Joseph does turn out to be cool about the whole thing, but The New Pornographers have him telling his mysteriously pregnant bride, "You're asking me to believe too many things."

The final track is actually two cover songs, "Arms of Mary" by Iain Sutherland of The Sutherland Brothers and "Looking At A Baby" by The Collectors. As "Arms of Mary" gives way to "Looking At A Baby," the Pornos crank it up into one of their soaring closings à la "The Bleeding Heart Show." But without Case echoing A.C.'s lines during the climax, it's not nearly as powerful.

All in all, The Spirit of Giving is far from a Christmas miracle, but it's better than a lump of coal.

And there you go, readers. A review embedded in a news story.