The LeeVees kick off Hanukkah with a special Tiny Desk performance

Transcript

THE LEEVEES: Loosen up, everybody. It's a Hanukkah party. We are The LeeVees.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Hanukkah starts tonight. So this year the folks at NPR Music invited The LeeVees to the Tiny Desk to perform some of their album, "Hanukkah Rocks." Tiny Desk creator Bob Boilen even came out of retirement and brought snacks.

BOB BOILEN: (Laughter) I've been listening to this record with my son for, like, 18 years or something every year at Hanukkah. These songs are so much fun. Thank you. I made you some bagels.

DAVE SCHNEIDER: I know.

ADAM GARDNER: Amazing.

SCHNEIDER: That's crazy.

SHAPIRO: The album was a collaboration between a few touring musicians, including Adam Gardner of Guster and Dave Schneider of The Zambonis.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW DO YOU SPELL CHANNUKKAHH?")

THE LEEVEES: (Singing) Just tell me, how do you spell Hanukkah?

GARDNER: And we discovered we were both Jewish, and we were talking about how, as kids, around the Christmas holiday, it's tough to be a Jewish kid 'cause the music's not really there.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "APPLESAUCE VERSUS SOUR CREAM")

THE LEEVEES: (Singing) Applesauce versus sour cream.

SCHNEIDER: We made this record. We wrote it in a week, and we recorded it in a week.

GARDNER: It was a Hanukkah miracle - eight days.

(LAUGHTER)

SHAPIRO: You can find the full Hanukkah concert at npr.org/music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LATKE CLAN")

THE LEEVEES: (Singing) Two candles lit. The holiday's just begun. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.