Wild Thing
Call it progressive edutainment--or something far less sterile--but there is a movement afoot wherein parents who can play music realize that they can take tunes they love and remake them so kids will also thrill at the sounds. This is where the Sugar Beats fit: they are artists who decided that the music they loved was equally lovable to kids. So the group'sWild Thing, their fifth album, kicks off sweetly with "Build Me Up Buttercup" and rollicks with "Knock on Wood," the latter song rife with horn charts and a surging retro feel that's as genuine as it is musically competent. With the kids in mind, the Sugar Beats integrate kids voices and broadly displayed, midtempo rhythms that invite dancing and playing along. They manage a funny skit riffing on the big bad wolf, then weave that into "I Hear You Knocking" before heading into a more contemporary, keyboard textured pop groove on "Best of My Love." As musicians, the Sugar Beats are best when tackling older pop and soul tunes, but as entertainers, they've got tremendous aim with every song, catching the heart of the melody with ease and making it all lovely, especially to listeners between 5 and 10 years of age. One listen to their rundown of "Good Vibrations" could floodBrian Wilsonwith legions of pre-Beach Boysmemories.--Andrew Bartlett