The advantage of a 27-minute kids' music CD to a reviewer is the ability to listen to the CD 6 or 7 times in 4 days.
The advantage of
Dos Ninos to a listener in general is that you'd probably enjoy listening to the CD 6 or 7 times in 4 days.
The just-released CD is the fourth CD and the first kids and family CD from the Oklahoma-based
Sugar Free Allstars, and it's a winner from start to finish. It's a somewhat brief trip, but a blast nonetheless.
The band is a duo, Chris Wiser on keyboards and lead vocals, with Rob "Dr. Rock" Martin on drums and backing vocals. You may not hear a funkier kids' CD this year (at least until, say, Prince releases an album for the kids). Martin's a solid drummer, no doubt about it, but it especially warmed my heart to hear Wiser's Hammond B3 organ throughout the CD. The opening track, "Bathtub Boy," shows off the Allstars' strengths -- somewhat amusing lyrics married to a groove that it's hard not to tap at least one foot to (if not bop your head or do something more complicated). It sounds like something off a long-lost jazz CD from the '60s, that is until the break -- "Lather up / scrub him down / rinse him off" will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
And from there it moves on to such kid-friendly topics as spiders ("He's Okay (the spider song)" ), grandparents ("Poppy and MeeMaw") and a trip to the petting zoo (uh, "Petting Zoo," natch). The melodies and beats really aren't dumbed down in any way -- they've just married kid-appropriate lyrics (and pretty good ones at that) to the songs. In fact, one of the songs ("He's Okay") was originally recorded for their debut CD, and is pretty much unchanged from that version. The penultimate song, "Stinky," is pretty much an instrumental, with Wiser giving a very parental "Stanky!" chorus -- older siblings will probably get a huge kick out of it. And just when you might be getting a bit tired of the organ/drum duo bit, "Buck Up Little Camper" is a silly little Tin Pan Alley knockoff, and it's over.
The songs, lyrically at least, will be of most interest to kids ages 3 through 8, but that's sort of less important than with many other CDs. You can hear long samples at the album's
CDBaby page -- and really, you owe yourself to at least give "Bathtub Boy" a spin. (You can also hear four tracks at their
Myspace page.) And while maybe it's the hip thing to do to record a kids' CD these day, at least give these guys credit -- they're doing a library tour this summer.
This will be one of those CDs you pull out to show others that kids' music these days isn't just pop or folk. This will be one of those CDs you pull out to get your kids to shake out a little extra energy. And this will be one of those CDs you pull out to put a little grin on a lot of faces.
Dos Ninos packs a great deal of fun in less than a half-hour. Definitely recommended.
At some point during the Sugar Free Allstars set at Kindiefest, I turned to the person standing next to me -- at that point in the set we were all standing -- and said, "Hard to believe they generate that much from just two guys." And it's true -- it's not that Chris Wiser and Rob Martin are playing 3 instruments each, it's just that they get the maximum sound out of their organ and drums.
They both also worked hard, Wiser especially, to get the crowd dancing, Wiser exhorting folks to stand up and wringing every last bit of energy out of their funky 17-minute (20-minute?) set. How much energy did they have? They finished the set quickly enough that they had time for an extra song. They also had time to pull Jeni Cosgrove, Mindy Thomas, and Jeff Bogle up to show their disco moves on "SFA Disco Dance Party" (picture below).
Sugar Free Allstars - "Cars and Trucks" [YouTube] (watch Mr. Leebot and the guys from Recess Monkey, among others, follow along to Wiser's instructions)
Their first album Dos Ninos was a 
