Review Redux: Meet the Squeegees - The Squeegees

This is probably a Zooglobble first. I've double-dipped reviews before for albums getting re-releases, but this is essentially a triple-dip. It's for the LA band The Squeegees. Their album started out as an EP, then doubled in size and was released in February 2008. Now it's getting exclusive national distribution in Target starting tomorrow and I thought I'd pull up that 2008 review for your pleasure, plus offer a thought on the new track... ****** Meet The SqueeGees, the first full-length CD from the Los Angeles-area band The SqueeGees, could offer me a chance to be exceedingly lazy and simply copy the review from their debut EP, The SqueeGees. Well, maybe half the review. Because half of the CD was originally found on that debut EP. Now, that's not a bad thing, perhaps, because that means the bubbly tiny nugget of a song, "Apples Oranges & Peaches," is back, as is "Nala the Chihuahua," with its snaky melodic line and harmonies. And "The Ol' WWW," which really isn't a kids song (though it's totally kid-safe) is back to amuse the parents. Just as with the EP, the Squeegees are at their best when they're not as concerned with the point of the song, such as the dreamy "Bubbles." "I-D-E-A," a song encouraging more environmentally conscious thinking, almost overdoes it with the hitting-over-the-head. (More amusing is the Queen-esque breakdown that starts "So you think that you would like to drive a big car? / Have you seen the gas prices today?" and ends, of course, with "I like to ride my bicycle / I like to ride my bike...") In fact, what struck me the most on listening to the full-length CD is how much care and craft has gone into these tunes, musically speaking. The SqueeGees generally play folk-rock, but there's a lot of interesting bits squeezed in here, like in the song above, or the harmonies in "Nala the Chihuahua." Along with Samantha Tobey's clear voice, they make the most of the songs here. As for the Target re-release, even though the band itself seems to have gone through some changes (Tobey is still there, she's now joined by Rilo Kiley bassist Pierre de Reeder and Rich Sherwood), the album appears (and sounds) to be identical to the 2008 release except for the new track, "Tweet Tweet Tweet." No, it's not a song about Twitter (which would've made for a nice new verse on "The Ol' WWW"), but a song about birds, with a nice full sound. It's not worth getting the album for that one song alone, but it's definitely a pleasant addition. I'll peg the album as most appropriate for ages 2 through 7. You can hear some tracks from the CD at the band's Myspace page. There's a lot to recommend in Meet the SqueeGees. I like the quirky ones more than the standard ones, but that might be personal taste. In either case, there's a high attention to sonic detail that kids musicians thinking of recording debuts could do well to emulate. Recommended. Disclosure: I received a copy of the album for possible review.

Itty-Bitty Review: Wake Up, Clarinet! - Oran Etkin

Give New York's Oran Etkin credit for this -- his early childhood music education program, Timbalooloo, sounds little like other music program for youngsters. A combination of jazz, world music, with interaction thrown into the mix, it's not necessarily better than other such programs -- I'll leave that for the pedagogic experts -- but it draws deep from wells that are lightly touched. The first album from the Timbalooloo program is Wake Up, Clarinet!, and after listening to the CD (and watching the 10 minutes of bonus video), I have a decent idea of the program's strength. Its core is classic jazz, played artfully by Etkin himself. As you'd expect from a jazz album, there's a lot of playful give-and-take between Etkin and the other performers, particularly vocalist Charenee Wade. There's also a lot of interactivity expected of the listeners, asking questions, giving the instruments characters through how the musicians play their instruments. (It's a touch of "Peter and the Wolf," I suppose.) If there's a downside, it's that the album's pretty short -- just 22 minutes long, including one song ("High Low") given two interpretations. After the first few times, I gladly would trade some of that and the introductions for ten minutes more of the band jamming on 3 or 4 different tracks. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 6. You can buy the album here, listen to the album here and watch the bonus video here. If Wake Up, Clarinet!'s brevity helps keep it from reaching the heights of all-time classic jazz-for-kids disks, it's still pretty good. I think Etkin's got the chops to be doing this for some time, and if he does, I fully expect his albums to reach that essential jazz for kids level -- maybe even essential, period. Recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: The Best Candy in the Whole World and Other Stories - Bill Harley

Not quite sure how I've managed to write this website and not review a disk from Bill Harley. Well, that ends now. Harley's latest disk The Best Candy in the Whole World and Other Stories, out this week, is a disk of four stories (with a song mixed in for good measure). It features Harley's typical sense of impish humor, vocal stylings, and, most of all, humanity. In a couple different stories, Harley uses the phrase, "his/her heart went out to her/him," a lovely phrase that underscores Harley's approach to telling stories. When he's getting at the heart (pun intended) of familial or larger rivalries, Harley always sees the person underneath. There may be heroes and there may be villains in his stories, but they're almost never entirely so. All of which makes the collection sound a little dull, which it's not. The stories (some original, some borrowed) are funny and imaginative. You can see the ending of the title track coming perhaps a minute or two before the actual ending, which is both neatly wrapped up and open-ended. You think you see the ending of the "Jack and the Singing Leaves," about ten minutes into the 25-minute story, but then Harley acknowledges what you're thinking (in the context of the story) and then takes it in a somewhat different direction. The stories will be most enjoyed by kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear samples here. Bill Harley's albums of stories are usually good an hour's worth of silent attention broken by the occasional giggle or guffaw, and The Best Candy in the Whole World is no exception. Recommended. Disclosure: I received a copy of the album for possible review from Harley's PR folks.

Itty-Bitty Review: Kid Songs - Salteens

This is the year of the kids music EP, apparently. First Haley Bonar, then Lucky Diaz -- now Vancouver's Salteens complete the trifecta of excellent family EPs with Kid Songs. Most folks will probably come to Salteens via Yo Gabba Gabba! -- two of the songs have appeared on the show and another two were written and recorded for it as well. "I'm So Happy" is a giddy romp that will bring smiles to everyone, including and especially fans of The New Pornographers' throw-in-the-kitchen-sink arrangements. (Yes, there's an indie-pop formula at work, and I hope they don't lose it.) "Be Nice To Animals" lopes along sweetly, with just enough giddiness and over-the-top sincerity to make it listenable repeatedly. The band, recognizing the popularity of those two songs given their visibility, has shrewdly made those two songs only available via an $8 physical CD (which includes four other songs); if you just want the other four songs, you can get those digitally without those two songs for just $3.50. Those other four range from OK (the reflective "I Love My Cat") to pretty darn good ("All My Friends Are Different"). The purposefully emotional "Have a Nap Mom" is funny, but sounds out of place here with its wise beyond his years narrator and winking tone -- the rest of the album is so eager and earnest. The EP is most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 6. You can listen to (and from there buy) the 4 digital tracks below (or here), and listen here for "I'm So Happy" and here for "Be Nice To Animals." Salteens have successfully dipped their toes into the family music water with Kid Songs and the only question, really, is whether you should get the 4-song or the 6-song version. I vote 6-song version -- so fun and definitely recommended. Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the album by the band's press folks for possible review.

Itty-Bitty Review: Take It Outside - The Okee Dokee Brothers

I'll go ahead and say straight out that since I wrote some liner notes for Take It Outside, the second family album from Minnesota's Okee Dokee Brothers, I think you can guess that I like the album. I do, indeed. It's a big step forward for Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander, who are neither brothers nor from Oklahoma, but who do share a big ol' grin behind their band's genial name. Their first album Kids With Beards was pretty good, but this one is stronger in every way -- musically, lyrically, and sonically. "Neighbors" sounds like they've packed everybody in their neighborhood into the studio for parts of the chorus. "Hero" features a soaring chorus and guitar work from the Honeydogs'/Bunny Clogs' Adam Levy. And midway through the bouncy "Antidisestablishmentarianism," they decide that "now we're going to spell for you / 'Cause that's what kids musicians do" and proceed to do just that. (Their joy mounts as they continue to sing as they provide a frequency distribution, for example, of the letters in the word, capped by the definition and a gleeful "what's that supposed to mean?" followed by "Who caaaaares".) They do reflective OK, as on "What We Got" and "Sweet Dreams," but their strength is silly and/or goofy. Kids ages 5 through 10 will most appreciate the lyrical themes and humor, while their Americana/bluegrass take on pop-rock, polished to a nice sheen by producer Tor Hyams will have a fairly broad appeal. You can listen to samples at the album's CD Baby page. Take It Outside has an outdoorsy theme, but even more so it speaks to an engagement with the rest of the world. With good humor and heart, the Okee Dokee Brothers have produced a CD for even the most curmudgeonly recluse and the kids who just want them to play a little bit. Definitely recommended. [Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review. Though that's pretty obvious, I think, given this particular album.]

Itty-Bitty Review: "Sing A Little Song" - Brian Vogan and his Good Buddies

Seattle's Brian Vogan released his family music debut album Little Songs in 2008; though I never reviewed it here, it was not without its charms. (It also spawned an amazingly cute video for its song "That's How a Pumpkin Grows".) For his follow-up, Vogan recruited a new band, the Good Buddies. The result, Sing a Little Song, is a strong second album, fuller in sound, and more confident in its stories. The songs here are still somewhat movement-oriented, reflecting Vogan's experience in preschool music programs. But they're more fleshed out here -- the leadoff "How To Fly" starts off as a very simple movement song, but by the time that Visqueen's Rachel Flotard joins in, and then the full band and synthesized strings, it becomes a very catchy movement song. Standard kids music subjects show up here -- counting ("27"), vehicles ("Tow Truck"), dinosaurs (uh, "Dinosaurs") -- but there's enough of a unique take (numbers 1 through 20 get barely cursory notice, for example) to hold the interest of a listener who's heard enough of the standard take. He pulls out a couple long narrative songs (the aforementioned "Dinosaurs" and "Last Thanksgiving," featuring the world's largest turkey). He wraps up everything in an indiepop sheen (I particularly adore "Gray Dog") with enough attention to detail (the car sounds on "Cross the Street") to stand up to repeated spins. The songs are still targeted mostly at preschoolers, so it's most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear clips at the album's CD Baby page or "How To Fly" at his Facebook page. Sing A Little Song is fun, effectively translating preschool circle-time topics into full-fledged pop-rock for the home or car or, hey, maybe even preschool dance time. Recommended.