The strip malls haven’t even switched their seasonal knickknacks, and already record stores have been flooded with seven new Christmas albums in the last two weeks.

We haven’t even had our first frost yet (let alone finished our costumes), and already we are being faced with such gems as “Christmas II” and “Christmas Album” from the Wildham Hill new-age label and Jethro Tull.

Should we really be subjected to ideas of tinsel and the pains of mothers who are obnoxiously hard to shop for? Or are we just being nudged a little early with hints for that stocking stuffer for a loved one? Maybe a Christmas album is exactly what we need; money hasn’t been wasted yet on eggnog and mistletoe. We could cross at least one person off the Christmas shopping list. I can see a blissful Christmas Day already …

“Dude, son, Jethro Tull! This is great. I love Jethro Tull. Man, I remember back in ’79 when we saw him in Detroit when I was dating your mother. Man, that show rocked. That’s the night we conceived you. …” And that loved one could go on and on. Just think of it — hours of nostalgic entertainment that’s festive, too.

With the weather still hitting the 70s during a plague of autumn insects, should anyone really be thinking about Christmas, especially with a flurry of new albums out?

“I just bought the new Belle and Sebastion,” said Drew Cosy as she left Record Revolution, 817 W. Lincoln Highway, on Tuesday, completely unaware of a single Christmas album being available in early October.

“The American Song-Poem Christmas: Daddy is Santa Really Six-Foot-Four?” could be the gem in this group of albums seemingly cashing in on a religious holiday. These are the people who brought us such classics as “Jimmy Carter Says Yes” in their last anthology. What could be more festive than 30-year-old poetry from random people, set to music? What possibly could be more festive than “Santa Came On A Nuclear Missile” or “Rocking Disco Santa Claus?”

Remember, Christmas is a time for giving, and with this gift, you know you’ll only have to hear it for one month out of the year.