***Lunch Money***

It’s crazy how much fun you can have with just a guitar, a bass, brushed drums, and voices! Just ask Lunch Money, a three piece from West Columbia, South Carolina, whose debut kids’ album, Silly Reflection, came out in 2004 on their Squirrel Mechanic Records label. They’re enjoying themselves so much, in fact, you can hear the smile in lead singer Molly Ledford’s voice.

Oh, the memories that accumulate on a “Tricycle” when it’s passed down from family member to family member: a dent in the fender, purple sparkle streamers, a Snoopy sticker and a “Keep On Truckin’” license plate. Here comes the “Caboose”, a finger snappin’, “Fever”-inspired ode to the last car on the train. And rainy days are cool because you get to twirl your “Umbrella” and watch everyone act like Gene Kelly.

“Roller Coaster” dares you to put your ride ticket where your mouth is, quit hanging out by the tea cups, and get on board! Yes, daddy-o, “We Have Rhythm”, from birth, it seems, where we learned it from our own heartbeat. “Got To Watch Out” made me think of one of those pastoral songs Ray Davies wrote for the Kinks in the mid- to late-60’s. And the best reason to “Want a Dog”? Well, you can’t walk a hamster down the street!

Low key, cheerful, lyrically inventive, funny: Silly Reflection is a great debut from Lunch Money, and hopefully a reflection of more silliness to come (wow, that was bad)!

Kudos to drummer Jay Barry for his CD package design. The layout and graphics are first class!

***Jamie Barnett***

Please, _______ (you can fill in the blank with whichever corporation-created children’s music creature or group you want), could you make just one CD with at least a tenth the sincerity of Jamie Barnett?!? On his newest album, Just Look At You, check out Jamie’s playful, inventive lyrics; his deep, ringing acoustic guitar; his beautifully arranged tunes – like Leo Kottke without the fretboard gymnastics, and John Prine without the piss and vinegar.

Murrieta, California, educator Jamie Barnett sings songs about sledding, eating pancakes, folding clothes, hanging out with Dad as he visits various members of the extended family, all under the umbrella philosophy of living life in the moment, appreciating even the smallest events and tiniest slices of time we have together.

Feeling down? A little blue? That’s ok, “My Laughter” reminds us that our smiles are always right under our noses, and that if we just “Step Outside” every once in a while, we will notice the beautiful world all around us. One of the best tunes is “Sun Shines”, a serene song on which Jamie’s niece Alyssa sings. You can’t even call this song a “lullabye”; it’s more like a mantra, a Zen way of looking at life.

Both the title track and “Big Brown Eyes” are great examples of Jamie’s living-life-in-the-now immediacy, while “381 Days” gives kids the facts about the Montgomery bus boycott and encourages them to ask questions about our history and the choices we made.

Just Look At You is a very personal CD, from the family photos to the singing help to the philosophies of life. A beautiful album with a beautiful message.

***Frances England***

Sometimes spaces between notes are as powerful as the music itself. Frances England has created a powerfully simple, simply powerful collection of songs for her debut album, Fascinating Creatures. Other than Ms. England’s voice, all you’ll hear are strummed guitars, maracas, the occasional clave, and a rare visit from a drum set. Ghostly, distant notes float across many of the songs, along with faint, whispery backing vocals. If Daniel Lanois produced Sam Phillips, the result might sound a little like Fascinating Creatures, but to be honest this CD is so wonderfully unique, it’s hard to properly describe.

Suburban childhood activities abound: planting a little garden; painting; riding a tricycle; wondering where trains, planes and boats go when they leave our sight; reading favorite books; eating pancakes.

The highlight is the title track, a song that should be on everyone’s best-of-2006 list. Dreamy, unadorned, cosmic…one can’t say enough about this song. The inadvertently audible hum of a guitar amp and the imperfect tempo make the tune even more beautiful. The buzzy chorus of “Busy As a Bee” will make a great Toddler Time sing along, and on “Charlie Parker” you get a who’s who of bebop, plus the scat chorus is impossible not to sing along with.

At about 29 minutes, Fascinating Creatures is a short but quietly powerful little CD. If you’re alone, listen to the album on your headphones while you lie on your back in the middle of a grassy field. If you’re hanging out with your kid, play this record while you color together or plant seedlings in an old egg carton. This is a truly indie-rock kids’ album, and a fantastic one at that. Oh, and be sure to check out Ms. England’s great cover artwork!

***The RTTs***

Who is the best bar band in the world? Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band? Elvis Costello’s Attractions? Neil Young’s Crazy Horse? That debate will go on forever. The best (juice & snack) bar band in the U.S.A.? The RTTs! That’s right boys and girls, rock and roll for the whole family!

The RTTs, aka the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours of Washington, DC, released their rockabilly-flavored contribution to the world of children’s music, Turn It Up, Mommy! back in late 2003. Mix together the retro rock of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds’ super group Rockpile, the countrypolitan twang of Rodney Crowell, and some tasty guitar licks a la Pete Anderson, Dwight Yoakam’s guitarist, and you have a loose estimation of the RTTs sound.

The set kicks off with “Snack Time”, in which a kid wonders aloud, “Who was the genius that came up with juice boxes, string cheese, and Goldfish?” Next, you can hear the swampy lope of Creedence Clearwater Revival in “Learning My Letters”, a tune that details the frustration of deciphering the 104 squiggles that make up the alphabet, if you count upper- AND lower-case AND cursive letters. And no, “Big Train” is not yet another “choo choo whoo whoo” kids’ song. It is, in fact, about Walter Johnson, pitcher extraordinaire for the old Washington Senators!

Dad gets specific mentions in the songs “Sherpa”, “My New Hero”, and “April 14th”. “A Sherpa”, explains Dad, “carries lots of luggage across the Himalayas”, which is the way he feels sometimes when he packs for a trip to the park. But Dad is a hero because he can swim well, he’s honest, and he can do the Boogaloo. And the 14th of April makes Dad say unrepeatable words, notices the kid. Mom is on both ends of the volume spectrum with “Turn It Up, Mommy!”, a full out rocker that makes digs at the Wiggles, Raffi, and Barney all in one breath; and “Thank You Mommy”, a soothing final song that pays tribute to Moms (and wives) everywhere.

These guys have been at it for a long time, so they have the sound down, the production is clean and bright, and their musicianship is stellar. Is it a kids’ CD? Is it meant for adults? Anyone and everyone in the family will dig this music, and that’s the point.

***dog on fleas***

It's a shame, really, how much incredible talent goes unnoticed nowadays. Well, not so much unnoticed, but crushed into oblivion by the machine of mediocrity that calls itself "family entertainment". Hey, that's where I come in!

From the heart of Hudson Valley come dog on fleas, a musical ensemble based in Rosendale, New York, with their amazing new CD, Cranberry Sauce Flotilla. Mandolins and fiddles, a big booming upright bass, guitars and banjos, trombones and tubas, a barrelhouse piano, stacks of harmonies...Check out their original tune "The Farmer Is", and their cover of Woody Guthrie's "Bling-Blang", and you would swear you were at Big Pink listening to The Band lay down some tracks. In fact, throughout the whole CD you get the feeling that you've come across a New Orleans parlor band playing a kids' birthday party on a riverboat chugging up the Mississippi River. Except better.

Cranberry is unforgettable for several reasons: the production, the song selection, and the sincerity of the performance. The secret is that the album was recorded with the group performing around a single microphone (sometimes more) in the living room of band leader Dean Jones. Believe me, the fewer microphones you use, the harder it is to balance and mix the sound. But they've done a beautiful job, sounding as if you're hanging out on the couch, listening to the band have fun. A group who have a similar approach to recording and soundscape are North Carolina's Squirrel Nut Zippers, whose song "Hell" you might have heard on the reality series Family Plots.

Originals, covers, and old traditional tunes make up the play list on Cranberry. Bandmember John Hughes' "Happy" may be the most sincere, joyful proclamation of parental glee you will ever hear. No great big hugs from purple dinosaurs, or schmaltzy butterfly kisses here. Debbie Lan takes over vocals on the traditional "Twistification", Hoagy Carmichael's "Lazy Bones", and bandmember David Levine's sweet, sweet "Little Bird". And just try not to sing and dance along to the traditional "Weevily Wheat" or Dean Jones' own "Cranberry Sauce Flotilla" (you'll have to listen to the CD to decode the meaning of the title track's lyrics).

The band are clearly having a great time on Cranberry, and sometimes that means as much to the listener as a group's musical prowess or knowledge of folk tunes. Parents, and especially children, deserve a heartfelt performance from any music they bring into their homes, and dog on fleas certainly deliver on this one.

***Teacher and the Rockbots***

Finally, kids’ music for the upper-elementary crew! Chris Bihuniak and Bryan Mace, aka Teacher and the Rockbots, are a duo from Kansas who create and produce educational music and materials under their umbrella corporation, Power Arts Company, Inc. They have produced three CDs so far, Science, America, and Multiplication, with a fourth, World, to come very soon. The theme of each CD is explored with informational, creative, and amusing songs that kids in 3rd- through 5th- Grades will love. Teachers in particular will enjoy the fact that their students will actually be learning about the digestive system or the branches of government without knowing they’re learning!

OK class, get out your science CD! Now, before you wrinkle your nose and say, "Songs about science? Booorrrring!", put this disc in your player and crank it up. And no, the "Rockbots" don't play Casio keyboards and Roland drum machines. Chris and Bryan have put forth the effort to rock on real instruments, and to insure that each song will lyrically hold the interest of a classroom full of nine-year-olds. On their Science CD they cover animal class, liquid measurement, simple machines, and the human body, among other things.

The other three CDs will be reviewed soon, but for now tell your local school board to get on the Rockbot wagon!

***They Might Be Giants***

Another duo from Brooklyn you might have heard of...that's right, our beloved alternateen heroes They Might Be Giants
have made the foray into children's music! And a wonderful job they've done, I must say.

Over the course of listening to No!, we find out that "The Edison Museum" is useful as both an historical site and a creepy place to be sent if you're naughty, and that "John Lee Supertaster"'s diet has to be extra bland to accommodate his sensitive tastebuds. The Appalachian acapella story-song is updated with "I Am Not Your Broom", and "Clap Your Hands" is probably the greatest Toddler Time singalong song that Wilson Pickett never made.

The most awesome thing about this album is that the songs can pretty much be interchanged with songs from their best TMBG "adult" albums. A world controlled by kid-created robots, the mystery of balloon manufacturing, making sure to cross the street at the corner: yes, TMBG explore the imagination of a child without insulting the kid or annoying the parent. What other children's album ends with a fist-pumping anthem to the pros of beddybyetime?