Review: Odds & Ends - Andrew & Polly

Andrew & Polly - Odds & Ends album cover

Sometimes album titles don't signify much, but in the case of the brand-new album from Los Angeles-based duo Andrew & Polly, I think it's 100% on point.

Just like the random collection of stuff on the shelf on the album cover art, the tracks here are an assortment of tiny treasures and tracks with less heft.  Unlike many albums, in an interview with them, the duo noted that the album reflects a collection of songs they've written and recorded over time.  Sometimes the results are magical -- "Little Bitta You," a previously-released single, is a zippy and sweet folk-pop song, for example.  And their new song "Grapes" is a strong contender for catchiest kindie track of the year, with a singalong chorus filled with "la la las."

At other points, it does feel like one of those "B-Side" collections that your favorite power-pop band might have released after fifteen years together -- your XTCs, your Fountains of Wayne. There are three covers ("Forever Young," "Here Comes the Sun," and my favorite of the three, "Ghostbusters"), for example plus "Critters," their non-religious take on Bill Staines' classic "All's God's Critters" ("got a place in the choir / some sing low / some sing higher...").

Andrew & Polly have been devoting a lot of attention to their podcast for kids Ear Snacks, and some tracks feel very much like excerpts like that.  "Ghostbusters," with a lot of kid-interaction, was sort of a prototype for the podcast, while "Fruitphabet" is a playful thing, more sound-and-word-play than pop song.  At 28 minutes in length, the album's brevity -- it's barely more than an EP -- is one more thing that makes me think of this as a "B-side" collection.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 6, and I should make clear that my middle-aged perspective on what an album "is" (or isn't) won't matter to the kids, who will sometimes groove and other times laugh to the folky, smart, and weird stuff on Odds & Ends.  Ear Snacks is a genuinely original podcast as well.  Andrew & Polly can write such sharp music, that I'm very much looking forward to the next set of songs from the duo, which they say will be a coherent concept album.  In the meantime, there are some tiny treasures on this album, and those will do just fine.  Recommended.

Note: I was given a copy of the album for possible review.

Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns - Gustafer Yellowgold

Gustier Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns album/DVD cover

Can it be true?  Can Gusfater Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns really be the seventh album from Gustafer Yellowgold?

Of course it's true -- why would I start out this review with a bunch of untrue rhetorical questions?  Over the course of more than a decade and those seven albums, Morgan Taylor has crafted an entire world about the yellow guy from the sun wrapped in a gauzy '70s AM-rock packaging.  The songs are catchy, but what lodges Gustafer into the kindie listener's memory are the lyrics and the videos illustrating Taylor's often surreal subjects and stories.

Sure, you can hear "Sunny Side" as a song celebrating waking up early and having a positive attitude, but the video suggests that it's really celebrating eggs cooked sunny side up (and features at one point some 8-bit squirrels).  "Dark Pie" brings a little electronic percussion (hints of Wilco's update of '70s soft rock on "Heavy Metal Drummer") to the public and private shame that is overbaking of pies.

This is an album of food-inspired songs and while there's always been more than a hint of food antagonism in the Gustafer oeuvre, that comes out in full force here -- from the Gary Glitter stomp of "Rock Melon" to the slightly disturbing craziness of "Gravy Insane" to the food-gone-amock soft-rock-turned-electro-rock-rap of "Cakenstein." (I love "Cakenstein.")  But Taylor indulges his softer XTC side as well, particularly on tracks like "Cinnamon Tap," "Strawberry Love," and "I Sandwich," which is an odd metaphor for love.

If there's any change from prior GY work, it's that unlike the past few albums, there is no story throughline to the album.  It has its "food" theme (though like They Might Be Giants' numbers and letters-inspired albums, it's as much a jumping-off point as anchor), but there's no plot per se.  That's fine, but I do miss those attempts at broader stories.

You can get the 29-minute album either as part of the DVD/CD set or just the album alone.  I think the music stands up on its own, but hopefully I've made the case for the videos as well.  The DVD/CD set also includes sing-along versions of all the songs, along with a 24-minute bonus video featuring Taylor telling you how to draw Gustafer's best friend, the pterodactyl Forrest Applecrumbie, with occasional sound clips from other songs.  As with all Gustafer albums, the sweet spot is for kids ages 3 through 8.

Gustier Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns is another surreal trip through the Gustafer universe, funny and memorable, both musically and visually.  Even if this trip doesn't head anywhere in particular, it's still fun to meander with him.  Definitely recommended.

Note: I was provided a copy of this DVD/CD set for possible review.

Review: Super Audio Sunshine - Todd McHatton

If Dan Zanes coined the phrase "age-desegregated music" for his folk-rock take on traditional songs from across the country (and globe), Southern California's Todd McHatton has taken that attitude and applied it to psychedelic power-pop.  While some of his music has occasionally tapped into a more childlike part of the brain as in his massive kindie hit "I Think I'm a Bunny," which featured the winsomely squeaky monster Marvy Monstone, mostly he's recorded music accessible to all ages.

This doesn't change on his latest album, Super Audio Sunshine.  Sure, Marvy makes his now traditional album appearance, this time on the (happily) existential album closer "Every Little Monster."  But for the most part, the occasional song like "A Slice of Pie" -- yes, it's about eating pie -- which resides squarely in what we might think of as kindie is usually followed immediately by a song like "What Makes Me Smile," which with only the most minor of changes would be a pure pop-rock love song.  (It is a pure pop rock love song, though, to be sure.)

McHatton doesn't alter his sonic approach from past work, either -- "Wonderbuzz" could be a long-lost track from XTC's long-lost kid-friendly album, and songs like "Refreshments on Neptune" and "Giraffe On a Flaming Unicycle" are every bit as far-out as those song titles imply.  As a result, McHatton's music can be an acquired taste and families who prefer their kindie more conventional might not groove to the whole thing.

The album is best suited for kids ages 4 and up, with no real upper age limit (see discussion above); you can stream the entire 41-minute album here.  As McHatton himself noted, he finds it "much more interesting and exciting to write about fantastical, dynamic, bizarre things than to rehash any common, tired, depressing, dark subject matter."  Super Audio Sunshine is another example of that artistic principle at work, and most families will find at least a few songs exercising their bliss muscles.  Recommended.

Note: I received a copy of the album for possible review.