Category Archives: Music

CD Review: The Not-Its! – KIDQUAKE!

CD: KIDQUAKE!
Artist: The Not-Its!
Audience: You.
Sounds like: Nothing like what you would hear on Top 40 radio… so it’s good.
Buy from: iTunes and bandcamp on February 5th
Random Thought: If they are all not it, then who is it? That is existential, man.
Tweet Sized Review: I never thought kid’s music could be like this. Being a dad won’t be so bad!

I’ll start off this, my first review on Dadnabbit, by saying that I am a new dad. My daughter will only be 4 months old when this album comes out. This should tell you a couple of things.

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I don’t know much about being a dad so far. I also don’t know what the heck I’m getting myself into. While I have some ideas, I still don’t know. Finally, I’m struggling with the thought that I will have to give up my radio dial/iPod dominance in the car.

These thoughts/fears became a little easier to stomach after listening to the latest offering from The Not-Its!. The fearless leader of our blog said that he had this album in mind for me and was interested in hearing what I thought about kindie.

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I of course thought he typed the word kidney wrong and was hoping he wasn’t going to ask me for one, but after I realized that kindie was a music genre, I was in. I am excited that The Not-Its! were my first exposure to this much needed genre of music.

I am a SKA/Punk kid at heart and KIDQUAKE! made the kid inside me (and the adult on the outside) smile and consider skanking it up. The Not-Its! do a great job of mixing (WARNING: Cheesy music review language ahead) tasty licks, catchy melodies, crunchy guitars, a tight rhythm section, and positive and fun lyrics.

There is a lot to like musically and lyrically on this album. The first track, “KIDQUAKE!” sets a good tone with its energy. It is a track that will get your kids moving and maybe even busting out a little air guitar. “Busy”, track number three, is a true SKA song that will take you back to the mid-90s. It contains a nice horn line that I find myself whistling as I walk around the house. Not only is the album musically sound, I also enjoy the humor in a lot of the lyrics. Listen carefully and make sure to catch what they are saying in a song like “Busy”. The fifth track, “Temper Tantrum”, that starts off with an intro that includes a description of everyone’s little brother, is a very relatable song. It is also a great example of how The Not-Its! blend the vocal abilities of their members. Looking for more on this album? You even get a little country twang on track ten, “Walk or Ride”, which delivers a message of bike safety.

I would love to ramble on about every track, but the last one I’m going to mention is “Participation Trophy”. Hilarious? Yes. Musically sound? You bet. My favorite track on the album? Without a doubt. I’m not really sure what to compare it to, but it sounds like something any number of pop punk bands of the past 15 years could have released. You can probably figure out what the song is about based on the title. I’ll leave it at that and let you enjoy it.

I didn’t even mention who is in this band yet. Have you heard of Sarah Shannon? Well if you haven’t, she was a part of Velocity Girl who was well known on the scene in the 1990s, and that is pretty darn cool.

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Michael, the drummer, also played with Harvey Danger and I guarantee you know who that is. All of the members are very talented musicians (they all lend vocals on the album and many play multiple instruments) and it shows. They also care about music and the message they are sending out. Oh, and they also like to have fun. That’s what it’s really all about, right?

Do you love your kids? Instead of the new Twilight, I suggest you give them this album for Valentine’s Day. They will thank you. More importantly your ears will thank you. And while my daughter is just three months old at the moment, she stopped crying when I started playing this. That should be enough of an endorsement for anyone.

Get more from The Not-Its straight from their website.

Here’s a live performance of their song, “Let’s Skateboard”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amCaa-JOdhY?list=UUoAx8j7vUq0GCX5zSY_0lXQ]

Featured Song: All In This Together (MLK) – SteveSongs

Behind the B3: Who Am I and What Am I Doing In A Kindie Rock Band???

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The Rock Star Dream: name in lights, stadiums packed with screaming fans, partying all night, making millions of dollars… Awesome, right?! So how does one end up going from that fantasy to playing shows in libraries and schools for kids and families? Well I’ll tell you after I introduce myself. My name is Boom! (I also answer to Wiser, Chris or DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy) and I play organ and sing in the funky kindie duo Sugar Free Allstars out of Oklahoma City. For those of you not familiar with kindie (indie music for kids) it is basically a sub-genre of children’s music that has become a whole movement of creating music that is enjoyable for kids and adults alike. A phenomenon common to many kindie acts, SFA included, is that they started out playing for “grown ups” (often times in late night establishments) and have somehow found themselves performing kid-friendly music at family events, school assemblies and public libraries instead.

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The first incarnation of Sugar Free Allstars came together in late 2000 and immediately began playing late-night club shows, releasing our first album in 2001. Many times fans that had kiddos at home would come to shows after buying our albums and tell us how much their little ones liked the music. It happened often enough that we started tossing around the idea of “one day” releasing a kid’s album. But not yet, we were too busy living the dream…oh yeah, the Rock Star Dream…only the stadiums packed with screaming fans in reality were more like 10-15 people in a club at the end of the night. Oh, and the millions of dollars turned out to be maybe $200, but after paying a bar tab and buying gas to get to the next town, more like $100 to split between everyone. Par-ty! And so it went, year after year, until late 2006 when Fate intervened. After performing at an all-ages community show, we were approached about playing a tour of Oklahoma City area libraries for their kid’s summer reading program. We were excited to book the shows and quickly began recording our first kindie album Dos Ninos (released in 2007) in order to have merchandise with subject matter that was appropriate for kids. We were amazed as SFA began to receive attention nationally, seemingly having found our niche playing funky music for families. Even more encouraging, the first song on the album went to #1 on XM Radio’s Kids Place Live channel. After the surprising success of that first release, the course of our careers was forever altered.

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So there you have it – from bar band to Purveyors of Kindie Rock. The musician life is much more fulfilling now and even slightly more prosperous playing for families rather than in clubs. That being said, it is still a job, and a continuously demanding one at that. I do have an amazing, super supportive wife and incredible 2 year old son who encourage and motivate me to continue pursuing this path. My intent with this column is to provide a behind the scenes look at being a working kindie musician while also figuring out how to be the best PTSAHD (part-time stay at home dad) I can be: sharing the ups and downs, the frustrations and the triumphs, the disappointments and the successes along the way. This will be your chance to get a glimpse of the reality of this kindie rock business, not just the big fun rock shows.

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I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you from Behind the B3!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3OOwMiiXHo]