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Average: 3.5 (26 ratings)
- Date Released: September 9, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Children's, Indie Rock
- Label: K Records / SC Distribution
Dawson's album of songs for her two-year-old daughter will delight indie toddlers and their parents.
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We Say...
Most of Kimya Dawson's songs, on her own and with the Moldy Peaches, are so personal she's practically staring you straight in the eyes, grinning impishly — that's what made them so memorable in Juno, the context in which a lot of her listeners discovered her. Her new album of children's music, though, is about as personal as it gets: most of its songs were written for her now-two-year-old daughter, Panda, and they're very specifically about one little girl and her friends and family.
So will it speak to kids who aren't related to the singer? Absolutely — not least because a few of Dawson's backing musicians are small enough to ride the bus for free, and there's nothing toddlers like more than hearing other toddlers wreaking gentle havoc with simple tunes. (Panda herself contributes the occasional "uh-oh!") Some of these songs are the kind of little melodies children make up to go along with something they're doing: "Louie," about Panda's favorite dog, has a chorus that goes "Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie Louie!"
Slightly older kids are likely to scandalize their grandparents with the title track, a hilarious one-minute piece of highly educational scatology ("F is for fart/G is for gorilla fart/H is for huge gorilla fart"). Their folks, meanwhile, may catch the tinges of rueful observation in a few of the longer songs here. "Smoothie" may have the sharpest lyric ever written about pregnancy-related food cravings and their associated angst, and "I Love You Sweet Baby" captures both parental devotion and the way a new baby can render everything but baby-minding impossible ("Then you'll fall asleep on daddy's lap/We'll watch MacGyver while you take a nap"). Then the ruefulness gets washed away with another mindbendingly catchy little chorus, backed up by an unruly rugrat choir. -
They Say...
Since Kimya Dawson's adult albums are filled with cutesy-pie rhymes and schoolyard singalongs, it makes perfect sense that the singer/songwriter has given herself over to a full-on children's album. It also makes perfect sense that it's called Alphabutt, as Dawson has always shown a propensity for juvenile jokes, and that title should also be a tip-off that just about every other song on this 15-track LP sports a joke about farting. Kimya doesn't limit herself to farts: there's poop and pee, even references to growing hair "down there," all delivered with a child's fascination with discovering their body -- and sometimes delivered with a couple kids singing along, too. Such enthusiastic participation from a few tuneless kids highlights the fact that Dawson designed Alphabutt purely for young kids. These are not songs for the parents, nor are these tunes meant to educate or even entertain: these are the kinds of songs that kids chant in the backseat when they mean to annoy their parents.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Little Monster Babies |
1:27 |  |
| 02. | |
Alphabutt |
0:55 | |
| 03. | |
Bobby-O |
1:50 | |
| 04. | |
Louie |
2:25 | |
| 05. | |
Smoothie |
2:13 | |
| 06. | |
I Like Bears |
1:09 | |
| 07. | |
Seven Hungry Tigers |
1:59 | |
| 08. | |
Happy Home (Keep On Writing) |
3:34 | |
| 09. | |
Wiggle My Tooth |
1:37 | |
| 10. | |
I Love You Sweet Baby |
2:02 | |
| 11. |
Pee-Pee In The Potty |
0:29 | |
|
| 12. | |
Uncle Hukee's House |
0:54 | |
| 13. | |
We're All Animals |
2:22 | |
| 14. | |
Little Panda Bear |
1:00 | |
| 15. | |
Sunbeams and Some Beans |
3:45 | |
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15 Total Tracks, 27:41 Total Length
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Credits
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - Author // Brian "Brain" Mantia - Drums // Jason Carmer - Bass // Jason Carmer - Guitar // Jason Carmer - Drums // Jason Carmer - Vocals // Jason Carmer - Producer // Jason Carmer - Engineer // Jason Carmer - Clapping // Jason Carmer - Rattle // Angelo Spencer - Guitar // Angelo Spencer - Drums // Angelo Spencer - Vocals // Angelo Spencer - Blocks // Kimya Dawson - Guitar // Kimya Dawson - Piano // Kimya Dawson - Kazoo // Kimya Dawson - Vocals // Kimya Dawson - Producer // Kimya Dawson - Clapping
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