Video: "Superhero" - The Laurie Berkner Band

Superhero album cover

It's September 23, a very busy day for Laurie Berkner.  Her new album Superhero is released today, featuring a bunch of brand-new original songs and duets with folks like Ziggy Marley, Kira Willey, and Brady Rymer.  (You can read more about the album in this interview with Berkner.)  She's launched a Kickstarter project to bring 5 concerts featuring her to hospitals and special needs schools.  Berkner is donating her time, so the Kickstarter money will help pay for all the other stuff -- sound crew, travel costs, etc.  (You can donate CDs to hospitals, get signed CDs, and superhero capes, among other cool swag.)

One of those things would be enough for a Friday morning, and two is a lot, but why not do a third thing?  So Berkner's debuting her video for the album's title track today.  The song's got a zippy, catchy chorus and features cute kids wearing capes.  That's enough for me and probably the nearest preschooler.

The Laurie Berkner Band - "Superhero" [YouTube]

Video: "Secret Superhero" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Infinity Plus One album cover

Aw, man, is there a better time for Secret Agent 23 Skidoo to release this video than the week Comic-Con starts?

One viewing of "Secret Superhero," the first video from Skidoo's brand new album Infinity Plus One, and the answer is so clearly, "no."  A whole bunch of kids with a bunch of costumes and powers that are gonna look kinda familiar.  It's funny and cool, just like the song itself.  There's never been a better use of "arch-nemesis" in a song, I guarantee.

(Make sure you look for Skidoo's Stan Lee-like cameo.)

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Secret Superhero" [YouTube]

Itty-Bitty Review: On the Bright Side - The Bazillions

The Bazillions - On the Bright Side album cover

Minneapolis band The Bazillions have an ear for power-pop hooks.  Or, like, 23 ears, because each album of theirs has more hooks than one ear could possibly handle -- even one of those punks' ears with safety pins all over.

Their third album, the recently-released On the Bright Side, does not stint on the hooks.  "Superhero Rock Band," which kicks off the album, is like one of those movie pitches ("They're superheroes from DC and Marvel... but they play in a band!") that is so high-concept that song quality would scarcely seem to matter, but luckily for the power-pop enthusiast in the family, it's got crunchy guitars and a catchy singalong chorus, too.  That's followed by "Family Tree," a roots-pop song celebrating, well, family -- along with the album closer "Sons and Daughters," it's the first I've really heard the band try for something more emotional.

Of course, at this point, it wouldn't be a Bazillions album without several educational songs, including the jangly "Use a Contraction," the shimmering "Ed (Been There, Done That)," and their first science-related tune, "Water Cycle."  Longtime readers will know my general antipathy towards songs that have such an explicit educational bias unless the melodies and lyrics are really tight, but listen to the chorus for "Favorite Book," which is really just a reading-positive song, and tell me it isn't precisely constructed for maximum earworm.

The 37-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10; you can hear three of the tracks from the album here.  As with their previous albums, On the Bright Side includes a number of power-pop and jangle-pop melodies that stand up to repeated spins, regardless of whether you need to learn some 2nd grade concept.  Whatever educational value they have (and is enhanced by their catchiness) is just a nice bonus.  Definitely recommended.

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