Oh, to have the energy of Pepito, the titular squirrel the latest EP of
Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke. I'd be able to knock out these reviews in four, five minutes flat. Perhaps I could do that if I just wrote something like, "I've yet to hear a Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke song that I haven't liked" and left it at that.
But you probably expect just a little bit more (even though it's true). So, then, in brief, the six songs of
Hey Pepito!:
1) "Pepito": a gigantic adrenaline rush that might, in the long run, get a little wearisome when you listen to it for the four-hundredth time, as your kids will invariable make you do. (Purchase the album via Little Monster (or the widget below) and get an e-copy of a Wilde-drawn comic featuring Pepito to boot.)
2) "Don Mario's Song": Another ear-wormy chorus, with the added benefit of an extended Latin percussion break, each instrument named in turn. I love "Pepito," but I think this is the best song on the album.
3) "Talking Big Pet Pig": This pig looms large in KWMC iconography -- here he gets an origin story, done Dylan-pre-electric-style.
4) "It's So Good": Previously released, is that a samba I hear?
5) "Mary the Fairy": Also previously released, the story of a flight-challenged and inattentive fairy.
6) "Summer Lullaby": As tender a song as "Pepito" and "Don Mario's Song" are rave-ups.
The songs are most appropriate for kids ages through 3 through 7. Listen to the whole EP by streaming it via the player below.
Hey Pepito! is a fun 22 minutes, a worthy albeit brief follow up to their wonderful debut
Rise and Shine. Or, to put it another way, I've
still yet to hear a Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke song that I haven't liked. Definitely recommended.
[Disclosure: I received a copy of the album for possible review.]
Hoo boy, that was a fun show put on by The Thinkers on Sunday. We set up most of the Children's Museum of Phoenix shows many months in advance, so it's not often we can fit in a last-minute addition like the Thinkers as the Boston/NY-based band moved westward on a massive country-wide tour, but I'm glad we did, because we all had fun.
Little Boy Blue, Miss Mary Mack, and I caught their second set of the day, and with the help of a generous supply of egg shakers and rhythm sticks, it was one of the most chaotic sets I've seen in the sunlit room where we host the shows.
But chaotic in a good, not totally chaotic way. Just lots of kids banging around, jumping, maybe dancing. (I was told that the first set earlier was even more packed and chaotic.) Nobody really knew the songs, of course (present company excepted), but the kids were more than game.
Twenty-five minutes later, they were done, the kids were toast, and I had a grin on my face.
The band continues to tour for at least next three weeks up the west coast. Definitely track 'em down and check 'em out.
Here's "Froggy Hop," with more live video after the jump.
The Thinkers - "Froggy Hop" [YouTube]
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