ANBAD is finally feeling in the mood for Christmas, having at last thrown off the antipathy towards The Most List-Saturated Time Of The Year.

And, as is traditional now, ANBAD is simultaneously grumbling about this flurry of best-of-2011 listing, whilst taking part. I’m also making sure I’m reneging on promises – another key trait of this website – and featuring just a couple more bands before the year is out.

So, ANBAD switches into full-on LIST MODE at the end of this week. But before then, who could resist Your Rival, who seem right at home at this cosy, familial time of year: cosy, slightly kitsch and undeniably comfortable.

Like all good pop songs, I Don’t Even Know is under two minutes long, allows the chorus to comprise 75% of the whole – their might not actually be any verses – and is the musical equivalent of egg nog: you like it despite the fact it’s much less cool than its peers.

If anything, I Don’t Even Know is a blast from an ill-defined past: the kind of power-pop that existed in the 80s that’s been mutated by the green, glowing radiation of 90’s Lo-Fi.

Your Rival are alien, familiar and… oh what the hell. You’ll just enjoy them. Remember that?

MORE: yourrival.bandcamp.com