Are the kids out of the room?
Preferably asleep or at school?
OK, then I can probably tell you about Z Rock, a new, partially-scripted comedy series on IFC which tells the somewhat fictionalized tale of a heavy-metal band by night, kids-music band by day.
It is totally inappropriate for kids, so if you want to read more, go to the jump.
How inappropriate? Go check out the video clips (Ep. 1, Clip 5, particularly inappropriate, obvious, and slightly amusing, but don't go if you're easily offended), and then get back to me.
What makes this all even more surreal is the fact that this band actually exists. That's right, head on over to CD Baby where you can buy (in the unlikely event it comes back in stock) the "Z Brothers" album ABZ's. At the same time, the band was really trying to make it as heavy-metal band "ZO2."
Unsurprisingly, it was, according to this article, the kids music, not the adult music, that was their big break, as TV executives who'd seen the band at birthday parties thought their story would make for interesting TV.
It's hard to tell based on the clips of the show (which I haven't watched all of) to see if it's more of a This Is Spinal Tap/Flight of the Conchords music industry vibe or if it saves its bigger punches for skewering New York City's elite (a la The Nanny Diaries). (This review suggests it's not quite in the league of the former; clips like this suggest that there's at least some kids-music skewering on tap. The New York Times says the show exaggerates parts of the Z Brothers' experiences, "including a pitched rivalry with other New York-based children’s musicians.")
I'll be curious to see how this is received. Kids music can be an easy target -- which is the goofier song and title -- the fake rival Kidtastic! "Lots Of Things Don't Have Wheels" (see link above) or the Z Brothers' "Have You Seen My Chicken?" But most of the genre's worst foibles are the result of the adults in the scene, not the musicians, and definitely not the kids -- who knows what the end result will be?
So here's the preview. Watch with care, folks.
