Listen To This: "Wake Up" - The Verve Pipe

I could have named two, three dozen bands who rose to national prominence in the early-to-mid-90s before mentioning The Verve Pipe as a band who I'd expect to do kids music, to come out with a family album. But they have. Literally. The band's just released A Family Album, and it's about as far from "The Freshmen" as you could possibly get. Just get on over here, listen to "Wake Up" -- the album opener, a happy bit of power-pop with the kitchen sink thrown in -- and tell me you don't have a bit of a grin on your face when its two minutes are up. (And if that doesn't do it, "Cereal" is a song for which the phrase "over the top" was invented.) Seriously, folks, I really think it's worth your time to check out; the whole album's available for streaming. Here's the tracklist...

Itty-Bitty Review: Great Day - Milkshake

Although the Baltimore band Milkshake has always claimed to have a bit of an edge, I've never really heard it in their music. Maybe their music, shiny guitars and all, retained a bit of alternative rock, but their lyrics have been safe, safe, safe. Which is fine for some families, but I know others would find the band too sentimental for their tastes. With that context, when I say that on their latest album Great Day the band roughs things up a bit, I mean that as a compliment. Some of the roughing up comes courtesy of the sound. It's still got a gleaming pop sound, but there's more depth this go-round. From the funky piano on "Statue of Me" to Cathy Fink guesting on banjo on "When I'm Old" (Marcy Marxer pops up on "Travel Far") to the "Day in the Life"-aping title track which ends the disk and everywhere in better, there's a bit of scruffiness to the sound and a little more stylistic diversity. Is that the doing of producer Tor Hyams? Who knows, but the band's got six members, and they're beginning to use that to their advantage. More significantly, I think, the band's now tackling some more difficult territory. The album's best track, "Enemies," one of my favorite kids songs of the year, captures the weird feeling of occasionally getting really mad at your best friend while sounding a bit like a cover of some lost kids song from the Police. "Happy Place" talks about days that are anything but happy. There are still points where I think Milkshake retreats to safety lyrically ("Happy Place" includes the couplet "Reach out and hit somebody / But I can't cause that would be naughty") and your opinion (and that of your kids) will depend on whether you (and they) find comfort in that safety or dismiss it. But I'm glad that Lisa Mathews (who writes or co-writes every song here) is willing to explore emotions and situations that kids who might actually be in double-digits would find familiar. The 37-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10. You can hear 5 of the songs (including "Happy Place" and "Enemies") here. Great Day has some of the band's strongest songwriting and the band sounds better than ever. While I think some families may still find the band too earnest, I think this album shrinks that population considerably. Recommended.

More (Music) Please, Caspar Babypants!

It's been too long since the public has been able to enjoy new music from Chris Ballew alter ego Caspar Babypants. Luckily, your wait is almost over, as the followup to the stellar Here I Am! will be out on November 17. It's called More Please! (indeed) and features 20 new cuts, both original and freshened up versions of classic kids music. None of the new tracks are up for preview at his website, but there is a new (old) song not from the disk that's posted there. It's called "Shoofly Pie Company," and you won't even notice that it was, er, a fan song written for the actual Shoofly Pie Company in Seattle. If you want to listen, click on the player at the bottom of the page, then click the backward track button (looks like "|<<") once when "Small Black Ant" pops up. Or just go here and download the track. But then you won't bother listening to the rest of the fun tracks from Here I Am!. Anyway, here's the tracklisting for More Please!:

Video: "Bubble Factory" - Recess Monkey

It's been, what, four or five months since we last heard from Seattle's Recess Monkey, but clearly there have been some tensions between the band and its hand puppet band manager, Mayor Monkey -- tensions that are played out in "Bubble Factory," the latest video from the trio's fine Field Trip album... Recess Monkey - "Bubble Factory" [YouTube]

Listen To This: "London Bridge" / "Hickory Dickory Dock" - Elizabeth Mitchell

It says a lot about the two new ("quite old, but new to you!") tracks from Elizabeth Mitchell that they take two of the most repetitive sing-song melodies and turn them into nearly 2 minutes of very listenable songs. Don't get me wrong, singing "London Bridge" or "Hickory Dickory Dock" with your kid is great, but after two minutes of that I'm usually more than ready to move on. These two tracks, especially the toy piano-accompanied mellow "Bridge," pass the test. I suspect these tracks won't appear on Mitchell's new Smithsonian Folkways album, which'll come out sometime in 2010, but they're nice nonetheless. Listen at her Myspace page for a limited time...

Itty-Bitty Review: Music is... Awesome! (Yo Gabba Gabba!) - Various Artists

I am perhaps not the best person to judge a Yo Gabba Gabba compilation, as I've never seen a complete episode aside from the premiere I received on a screener DVD a few years back. (That's what a lack of cable will do.) A soundtrack album -- that's pitched at the true believers, not at the casual fans, right? So, if anything, I started listening expecting not to like it so much. Wrong. Even if you've never watched an episode and don't know your Brobee from your Muno, you and your preschoolers could definitely enjoy their new compilation Music is... Awesome!. For the most part, the disk alternates songs from the series with those from a list of artists with serious street cred; often they're set up as pairs. So a basic YGG song like "I Like to Dance" is followed up by Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark doing a cool "Robo Dancing," an angular dance tune with lots of bleeps and bloops. "Don't Be Afraid" is followed by I'm From Barcelona's swirly pop on "Just Because It's Different Doesn't Mean Its Scary." Generally, the best songs are from the guest artists -- the Roots' incredible "Lovely, Love My Family" or Chromeo's funky ode to handwashing "Nice 'N' Clean" or the sunny "Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play" from The Little Ones (a song which is destined to find its way onto a lot of hipster mix CDs yet is somehow totally appropriate for the 3-year-old in your life). But there are a few decent songs from the YGG folks, even if you're not a fan of the show (the cute "Party in my Tummy," or the shiny pop of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," credited to the Yo Dazzlers, but really just another YGG tune). You can find the 37-minute CD at the usual places, including Amazon and iTunes. Besides your hipster 30-year-old friend with the chunky eyeglass frames, the album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 5. I'd love to say that Music is... Awesome! is awesome. Unfortunately I can't pull the trigger on that obvious pull quote as some of the YGG tunes are just too dry to enjoy apart from the visuals. But a lot of the music is indeed awesome, which makes it the kids music compilation of the year. Definitely recommended.