Camp songs? Nifty pop tunes? And the theme to Meatballs?!? Hot dawg, I'm there! Lisa Loeb's latest contribution to the kids' music world is a unique work of art, indeed. Camp Lisa is a departure from the quiet folk tunes of Catch the Moon, her 2004 collaboration with Elizabeth Mitchell. This time 'round, Loeb's songs are aimed squarely at an 8 to 12 year old audience, and resemble more her previous releases for grownups.Camp Lisa is more or less a concept album about arriving at summer camp, making friends, singing songs, and having to say goodbye to those friends at the end of the season. Songs like "Best Friend," "When It Rains," and "It's Not Goodbye" are great pop tunes, worthy of Top 40 radio play, while the folky "Going Away" and a cover of Neil Young's country rock classic "Love Is a Rose" add to the quality of the collection.
Kids will get a kick out of camp favorites like "Peanut Butter and Jelly," " Wake Up Song," "Father Abraham," and "Cookie Jar Song," while parents will appreciate Loeb letting them in on the fun with the inclusion of funnyman Steve Martin's banjo work on "The Disappointing Pancake," and a totally rockin' cover of "Are You Ready for the Summer?", the theme song to the 1979 camp flick Meatballs. Great project from an alternative pop hero for your tweens.
"Are You Ready For The Summer" made this an instant purchase for me. I loved Meatballs as a kid and watched it repeatedly at a local $1 movie theater (when there was such a thing) one summer.
ReplyDeleteI thought the rest of the CD had some moments of brilliance and some parts that I didn't appreciate quite as much. The cool thing, though, is that my nine-year-old commandeered it immediately and he loves it. He just returned from his first summer camp experience and I was reminded that he is, most definitely, the target audience for this music.