 |
|
|
| Date |
City |
Venue |
| Fri 6/27/08 |
Austin, TX |
Ruta Maya |
| Thu 7/3/08 |
Memphis, TN |
Hi-Tone |
| Fri 7/4/08 |
Chattanooga, TN |
Nightfall Concert Series |
| Sat 7/5/08 |
Decatur, GA |
Eddie's Attic |
| Sun 7/6/08 |
Asheville, NC |
Grey Eagle |
| Fri 7/11/08 |
Spartanburg, SC |
The Showroom at Hub-Bub |
| Sat 7/12/08 |
Blacksburg, VA |
The Lantern |
| Sun 7/13/08 |
Vienna, VA |
Jammin' Java (early children's show) |
| Sun 7/13/08 |
Vienna, VA |
Jammin' Java (late show) |
| Wed 7/16/08 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
Diesel Club Lounge |
| Thu 7/17/08 |
Columbus, OH |
Café Bourbon Street |
| Fri 7/18/08 |
Cleveland, OH |
Beachland Ballroom |
| Sat 7/19/08 |
Buffalo, NY |
The Tralf |
| Sun 7/20/08 |
Rochester, NY |
The Bop Shop |
| Mon 7/21/08 |
Utica, NY |
Utica Monday Nite |
| Fri 7/25/08 |
Northampton, MA |
Iron Horse Music Hall |
| Sat 7/26/08 |
New York, NY |
Joe's Pub |
| Sun 7/27/08 |
Sellersville, PA |
Sellersville Theater 1894 |
| Tue 7/29/08 |
Albany, NY |
Linda Norris Auditorium |
| Wed 7/30/08 |
Cambridge, MA |
Club Passim |
| Thu 7/31/08 |
Fall River, MA |
Narrows Center for the Arts |
| Fri 8/1/08 |
Portland, ME |
One Longfellow Square |
| Sat 8/2/08 |
Blue Hill, ME |
The Shangri-La Music Festival |
| Fri 8/8/08 |
Austin, TX |
Threadgill's |
| Sat 8/9/08 |
Houston, TX |
McGonigel's Mucky Duck |
| Fri 8/15/08 |
San Antonio, TX |
Sam's Burger Joint |
| Wed 8/27/08 |
Boise, ID |
Alive After Five Concert Series |
| Sat 8/30/08 |
Seattle, WA |
Bumbershoot Festival |
| Tue 9/2/08 |
Eugene, OR |
McDonald Theatre |
| Wed 9/3/08 |
Ashland, OR |
The Mobius |
| Thu 9/4/08 |
Arcata, CA |
Mazzotti's on the Plaza |
| Fri 9/5/08 |
Crystal Bay, NV |
Crystal Bay Club - Crown Room |
| Sat 9/6/08 |
San Francisco, CA |
Red Devil Lounge |
|
|
Since
1995, Austin, Texas' Asylum Street Spankers have purveyed their
love of 1920s and 30s ragtime, pre-war blues, and early jazz
into a full-fledged, extremely witty, unamplified hootenanny
that's won over thousands of fans. Led by vocalist Christina
Marrs and harmonica/washboard player/vocalist Wammo, the group
has explored the joys of pre-war raunch ('96's Nasty Novelties),
languorously expounded on the thrill of earthly vices ('97's
Spanker Madness), and, on 2004's Mercurial, taken on Black Flag
and the Beastie Boys. Now they've harnessed what Rolling Stone
describes as their "inspired, lunatic brilliance,"
and applied it to kids' music.
Remember Marlo Thomas' Free To Be You and Me, and the brilliantly
insane Carl Stallings scores that provided the backdrop for
Bugs Bunny's Saturday morning antics? Take a heaping spoonful
of each then blend with a chapter of How To Eat Fried Worms
and a couple of mintcondition Wacky Packs stickers. Fold in
a lullaby and your favorite stuffed animal, and you've got the
perfect recipe for Mommy Says No!, a twelve-song musical ode
to childhood.
The Asylum Street Spankers' seventh studio album – and
their first for veteran roots label Yellow Dog Records –
might be family friendly fare, but it certainly pulls no punches:
Just try to follow Wammo's tongue twisters on "You Only
Love Me For My Lunchbox," or attempt to resist the sweet
nostalgia of "Sidekick." Blast the propulsive title
track, a Spike Jones-influenced slam dance contender, or slow
dance to a waltz version of Harry Nilsson's "Think About
Your Troubles," which features a warbling musical saw.
Three of these songs, "Be Like You," "Don't Turn
Out the Light," and the aforementioned "Sidekick,"
are compositions penned by Marrs, the only parent in the group
(her son Coltrane serves as the cookie-stealing cover model
on the album cover).
"This was an idea that's been tossed around for years,"
Marrs says, admitting in her next breath that "the project
may have been a little baffling for a couple of the guys, who
may have initially thought that they didn't know how to write
songs for a kids' record."
Nevertheless, Wammo and Sick, the Spankers' resident guitarist/fiddler/mandolin
player, effortlessly channeled their inner five-year olds –
no easy feat, according to fellow band mates, who had to endure
wedgies, whoopee cushions, and endless thumb wrestling bouts.
An improbable (well, veteran listeners know to expect the unexpected)
cover of Nirvana's "Sliver," which is distilled into
an Appalachian bluegrass jam, rounds out the album.
The musicianship – all acoustic instruments, of course
– is as sophisticated as ever, either as a stripped-down
version of the group, or the full ensemble, with clarinet, trumpet,
sousaphone, saxophone, and trombone. Whether you're turning
up the dueling guitars on "Boogers," tapping along
to the propulsive rhythm track on "Everybody Loves My Baby,"
or shimmying to the horn-driven second line strut that drives
the ruminative "When I Grow Up," you'll hear classic
Spankers elements shining throughout the album.
And lyrically, Mommy Says No! is hilarious, a worthy contender
to Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein's treasured works. Gorgeously
produced, and chock full of brazen satire (for the sweeter side
of the Spankers' songwriting, check out "Training Wheel
Rag" or the fairytale-like "Super Frog"), it's
a rich listening experience for audiences of all ages.
"There's not a lot of music out there for kids that a true
music fan is going to enjoy," says Marrs, who has an avowed
anathema of Yanni, the Wiggles, and that singing purple dinosaur.
"Even the so-called hip children's music I find intolerable,"
she adds with a laugh.
"In my house, where there's always been plenty to listen
to, the kids like our music anyways. There's something about
the band's sound and energy that appeals to them, so why not
make a Spankers record that's family friendly," she muses.
"Even so, Mommy Says No! doesn't have to be finely defined
as a children's record," she says of the album, which was
cut at the Still Recording Studio in Austin. "I think our
fans, no matter how old they are, are gonna really like it.
The random parent who hasn't heard us before will find something
cool and fun for their kids that won't drive them crazy. And,
for the young ones, we've got that brand recognition kicking
in early!" |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Mommy
Says No!
Yellow Dog Records
2007 |
|
