As Promised

As a follow-up to this post from last Friday, I'm pleased to share a song from The Hipwaders, a super-cool band whose self-titled album I reviewed last spring:

This Bay-area trio takes original approaches to some familiar topics for kids, while bringing a unique and energetic sound. They have all the necessary ingredients for a successful kids' album - high energy, a smart sense of humor, and a sound that merges the wholesome goodness of kids' music with the hipness and sophistication of parents' musical tastes.

The album starts with "Come Along With Us," which one could easily imagine kicking off their live performances. Early tracks like "Messy Room Song" and "It's an Earthquake!" show off some amazing twitchy guitar playing with lots of chromatic runs, and establish the Hipwaders' jangly power-pop sound that continues throughout the album. At times I heard the influences of The Byrds and Nick Lowe, and on tracks like "Silly Robot Dance" I could hear Franz Ferdinand and Television. Even with these eclectic and sophisticated sounds, the songs are consistently kid-friendly, both musically and lyrically.

You don't have to be a kid (or even a parent) to dig this -- "Silly Robot Dance" from The Hipwaders (posted with the band's permission - thanks, Tito!). The album is available at CDBaby, so if you like what you hear, go check it out. Also, the band is hard at work on a new album due out later this spring, so watch for that as well.