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Let's just get this out of the way: The two greatest holiday albums of all time are the Vince Guaraldi Trio's jazzy, wistful soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas and Phil Spector's baroque A Christmas Gift For You. But even if Glasvegas and the Killers can't quite compete with those Yuletide classics, they've both recently released their own strong contributions to the pop music Christmas canon.

Echo-drenched guitar miasmas aren't exactly wassail when it comes to conjuring seasonal spirit, but with their six-song EP, A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss), Scottish upstarts Glasvegas have managed to make music that shimmers with hopeful melancholy. The band's version of "Silent Night," recorded with a full choir in Transylvania (seriously) and awash in reverb, is as fragile and eerie as a snowflake, but the originals are where the album truly shines. Opening track "Careful What You Wish For" is a gorgeously forlorn piano ballad and "Please Come Back Home" is a ringing, stomping rocker reminiscent of the pre-Joshua Tree U2. In both cases, lead singer James Allan's rough and thickly accented vocals prevent the music from ever descending into treacle--not that the Grinchly "F*** You (It's Over)" needs the help.

The Killers think we've all been good little boys and girls--for the third year in a row, the band has released a Christmas single. Where the Las Vegas quartet's first two attempts at seasonal cheer (2006's "A Great Big Sled" and 2007's "Don't Shoot Me Santa") were little more than larks, the new, "Joseph, Better You Than Me" is a magisterial mini-epic, more "O Come, All Ye Faithful" than "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Featuring impassioned guest spots from Elton John and the Pet Shop Boy's Neil Tennant, the track's stately pace and hymn-like melody add up to something glorious. The lyrics--about accepting one's place in the world--even avoid any of the head scratchers Brandon Flowers often succumbs to. Throw in a sparkling major key guitar solo (the final licks of which are doubled by bells), and you've got one of the band's best efforts of this, or any, season.

With "Joseph" and Snowflake, the Killers and Glasvegas have gone a ways to getting into Santa's good graces. So long as the jolly fat man didn't think Flowers' feathered jacket was coal-worthy, I bet neither band will be disappointed come Christmas morning.

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