Back in November 2012, Declan Ryan (a nice Irish boy from the neighborhood) told CIty he was planning to go in a more electric direction with his already eclectic material. In assembling the troops, Ryan lamented "I want to get some more people involved in it, but it seems that everybody that's really talented is either crazy or busy." Flash forward to this holiday season and you'll find Ryan in Jolly Dick and his Carnivores, whose single "Krampus" is a beautiful ode to Krampus, who punishes naughty brats to the delight of contrarians and anti-Santites around the world. Ryan arranged the music  — a descent into sci-fi madness set to a big Easy funeral dirge and punctuated by the tortured wails of the damned  — and in doing so has helped pen a brilliant and immediate holiday classic. You better not pout, you better not cry...

Declan Ryan plays solo along with The Branch Davidians, House Majority, and Tim Avery Tuesday, December 17, 9 p.m., at the Bug Jar 219 Monroe Ave., $6-$8, bugjar.com.