Perhaps unfairly, I compare all childrens’ music using the “Laurie Berkner” scale– with zero being bubbles coming out of a telephone and ten being the gold standard of the toddler set: Laurie Berkner herself. It’s difficult for a non-layperson to put into words what exactly I look for in childrens’ music, so I sum it up as such: it should have interesting lyrics, catchy tunes, and be bearable for both adults and children to listen to again and again (and again and again– if you have kids, you know what I mean!)
Of course, in my mind there is really only one true test that matters: The Noodle Test. If Noodle doesn’t like it, then it’s not worth playing. I knew I was enjoying The New Explorer’s Club CD by the Flannery Brothers but wasn’t sure what my daughter thought since we mostly listen to it in the car. Last week one of the songs (High 5 Dance) was stuck in my head, so I started singing it as I was cooking dinner. I looked over at Noodle and stopped in my tracks.
Girlfriend was getting DOWN. Her hands were flapping, feet were tapping, and was in full boogie down mode. When I stopped singing, she started saying “more! more!” and we did it again. And again. And again. She loves this song!
The songs on The New Explorer’s Club make me smile. It’s obvious they love what they do, and do so with a sense of humor. The song “Pirate or Parrot?” helps decode whether you are looking at a pirate or parrot, just in case you might be confused. Our other favorite, “Swallowed a Bug” has us wondering, “if you are what you eat, does that mean I can fly?”
It seems the Flannery Brothers capture the innocence of childhood perfectly. “Kitchen Floor” is all about how sometimes you just have to lay down on the kitchen floor (“yeah, I know that’s not what the kitchen floor is for…“) something we know NOTHING about here at our house:
Oh, right, I guess we do.
Especially enjoyable are the variety of song styles. Each song seemed to have a different influence, from dance music style (“where my toddlers at?”) to upbeat reggae. That keeps the CD interesting and enjoyable to listen to on repeat {and repeat, and repeat, and repeat}.
Back to the “Laurie Berkner” scale: I give this CD a solid 8 out of 10. The sticking point keeping it from being a ten was that the Flannery Brothers don’t quite have the vocal quality of Laurie Berkner; their vocal tracks are more spoken than lyrical. They do “sing” each song, but we aren’t talking Frank Sinatra here. But why would we, it’s music for children, and while I do think kids are a discerning audience I’m sure they don’t mind that the vocals were a bit more spoken than sung. And they sound great, just not “sing-songy” if that makes sense. {can you tell I’m a professional music reviewer? ::giggle snort::}
In my book, if it gets you up a moving with a smile on your face then it’s a win. The New Explorer’s Club will do just that… you can even ask the master “high 5 dancer”, Noodle.
You don’t have to take my word for it, either. The Flannery Brothers are offering a free download of their Dance Songs for Silly Kids AND you can preview full tracks from New Explorer’s Club as well!
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