Posted on Thursday, September 02, 2010 4:50 PM
photo: Brian Kasnyik
For some inane reason artists think you to have put out flavorless music with condescending lyrics if you want to reach little children. They're wrong. Let the toddler listen to the real thing and they will pick up on it soon enough. Or not, in which case they're hopeless and will become Justin Bieber fans when they get older and enjoy the muzak piped in through the sound systems of shopping malls.
Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America is Caspar Babypants (wait! it gets better, read on) and his third album This Is Fun! has a few licks that make it bearable for grown-ups, including a rather good cover of Nirvana's Sliver (with Krist Novoselic coming out of hiding to play bass).
As a bass player with the Presidents, Ballew uses only two strings and in his "for kids" guise he plays only three on his guitar. His less is more approach works and his lyrics about frogs, centipedes, rain and elephants are witty and to the point. It won't get many airings on college radio, but they will love it in suburbia.
This Is Fun! is a self-released album. Buy it from his website.
Tracks:
- All You Pretty Babies
- Speedy Centipede
- The Legend Of The Bone
- Baby's Getting Up
- Whre Do You Go?
- Googly Eyes
- Shooo Fly
- Tiger Through The Trees
- Bounce Your Baby
- Baby And The Animals
- Sliver
- The Cuckoo
- It's Gonna Rain
- The Frogs
- Mister Rabbit
- Little Ditty
- Suckeye Jim
- Look At All The Elephants
- Tumble
- Dark Of The Night
» babypantsmusic.com