Author Archives: Jeff Giles

About Jeff Giles

Jeff Giles is the founder and editor-in-chief of Popdose and Dadnabbit, as well as an entertainment writer whose work can be seen at Rotten Tomatoes, Paste Magazine, and a number of other sites.

CD Review: Brady Rymer, “Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could”

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Brady Rymer – Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could (2008, Bumblin’ Bee)
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Kids’ music has come a long way from the says when its creators were expected to treat their listeners like tiny little mental patients, but even in this golden age of non-nauseating listening choices for parents, some of the old rules still apply. For instance, most kids’ album artwork is still done in bright colors, and filled with pictures of performers proudly displaying open-mouthed grins — and the songs themselves often tend to be overly sweet or self-consciously wacky. As adults, we often count ourselves lucky if we can remember our younger, sillier selves, but what we forget is that kids don’t always feel like acting goofy, and even though they think fart jokes are funnier than the average adult, they’re also capable of serious thought and occasionally startling insight.

Brady Rymer‘s latest release, Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, shouldn’t exactly be your first stop for serious thought or insight, startling or otherwise — but it doesn’t pander to its audience, either. This is relatively smart pop music that just happens to be aimed at kids, and although it lacks the sort of crossover non-breeder appeal enjoyed by, say, They Might Be Giants, it’s still a deeper, more relaxed, more thoughtful collection than you might think after looking at the cover.

This is no accident; as a member of From Good Homes, Rymer released a handful of rock records in the ’90s, and toured with big names like Davids Byrne, Crosby, and Matthews.

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He calls his songs “music for kids with a rock ‘n’ roll heart,” and even if that overestimates the material’s actual rock quotient, it’s close enough to the truth to explain how he’s managed to make five kids’ albums (and counting).

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He’s a likable frontman with an honest voice, and the songs have some wonderfully positive energy; Rymer even has the good taste to end the disc with a cover of Pete Seeger’s “Well May the World Go.” Your kids probably won’t care about that last item — at least, not unless they’re like my three-year-old Seeger groupie of a daughter — but they’ll still enjoy Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, and so will you.

DVD Review: Princess Katie and Racer Steve, “Revved Up and Ready to Rock!”

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Princess Katie & Racer Steve – Revved Up and Ready to Rock! (2008, RocketNYC)
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I’d never heard of Princess Katie and/or Racer Steve before my copy of Revved Up and Ready to Rock! arrived in the mail, but they apparently have quite a loyal following, and have released a pair of CDs (Fast & Feisty and Songs for the Coolest Kids), selected songs from which are collected on this live DVD.

Katie and Steve seem to have come to kids’ music the hard way — namely, after years spent fruitlessly trying to build careers in grown-up entertainment — and as a result, the PKRS aesthetic is pleasantly adult; because their move into this arena was gradual and organic, they use a smarter and more eclectic musical approach than some acts who self-consciously aim at the youth demographic. The Princess (nee Katie O’Sullivan) has a big, elastic voice, and doesn’t rely on cutesy antics to get across — then again, in a ball gown, corset, and tiara, she doesn’t need to; she’s got plenty of appeal for the kids (and, ahem, their dads). The band, led by Racer Steve (A.K.A. Steve Borne)’s lead guitar, hops nimbly between genres from song to song, mixing rock with jazz, swing, funk, and good-old fashioned uptempo pop. They have a horn section, too, which is more than most grown-up bands can afford. Best of both worlds, right?

The songs themselves are fun and varied, but none of them knocked me out, and after watching the DVD twice (largely without my daughter, who lost interest pretty quickly during both viewings), I can’t remember a single line or melody — but Revved Up and Ready to Rock!, like the songs themselves, seem pretty squarely aimed at the 5-8-year-old demographic, and both of us are outside that bubble. There’s no arguing with the energy of the show, however, or the way Princess Katie and Racer Steve smartly break things up between songs with an ongoing puppet show that deals with Katie’s wandering pet dragon.

The production values aren’t what you’d get from, say, a They Might Be Giants DVD, but they’re still impressively high; a number of cameras were used, and the editing cuts (a little too quickly, in my opinion) between angles during the songs. They even mix in a few special effects. For PKRS fans, especially those who have either been to a show or who are bummed out because they haven’t, it’ll be a wonderfully fun way to spend an hour. For the uninitated, it may be a little underwhelming, but that’s probably par for the course with something like this.

CD Review: “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

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Various Artists – Yo Gabba Gabba! (2008, Nickelodeon)
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For the record, I can’t watch this show — I want to punch DJ Lance Rock whenever he comes on the screen, with his big grin and all of his hand-talking — but I know when I’m beat, and for the last couple of months, my three-year-old has been obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba! Also, much as DJ Lance gives me the creeps, I have to admit that any children’s show that makes me stop in my tracks on the way to the shower and ask “Why is Elijah Wood dancing with a yellow robot and a bumpy red cyclops?” can’t be all bad.

If you have young children, you probably already know about Yo Gabba Gabba!, which has supplanted Jack’s Big Music Show as the hip, with-it kids’ show du jour, and a magnet for such unlikely guest stars as Wood, Biz Markie, Rahzel, Laila Ali, Tony Hawk, Sugarland, the Shins, and Mark Mothersbaugh. It’s utterly ridiculous, and easily the most unsettling form of children’s entertainment that I’ve laid eyes on since cowering in fear during an accidental late-night viewing of Boohbah. It’s also oddly addictive, which is why anyone with a YGG! fan in the house will want to run far, far away from the Yo Gabba Gabba! soundtrack album.

YOUR KIDS WILL LOVE IT.

First of all, it’s just a tiny little thing — less than half an hour in length.

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Second, the tracklisting is a genius blend of skits from the show (“Biz’s Beat of the Day”) and standalone songs. My favorite is the Salteens’ “Be Nice to Animals,” but there are a handful of non-annoying musical numbers, including the Little Ones’ “Hey, Won’t Somebody Come Out and Play” and the Roots’ “Lovely, Love My Family.” The end result is something your kids will clamor for over and over again, because it’s full of stuff they want to hear and it doesn’t last long enough to bore them.

I’m just warning you — if you give this to your children, prepare to surrender your radio for a period of several weeks. And prepare to find the songs stuck in your head at odd moments, or to hear and/or say the phrase “there’s a party in my tummy” far more often than you’d ever thought possible.

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Prepare also to possibly pay a visit to Target in search of some of the righteous YGG!-themed swag for sale, including the Muno-shaped talking guitar.

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Proceed with caution.