RALPH’S WORLD “ALL AROUND RALPH’S WORLD”
The Sound: Melodic, pop-rock greatness with more hooks than a tackle box, from one of the true giants of the kid’s music genre,
In the Cafeteria, They Sit With: Brady Rymer, Eric Herman, Justin Roberts
Best Moments: What if being funny came with disastrous side effects? That juxtaposition of humor and tragedy is cleverly examined on “The Funniest Joke In The World”. I could easily hear Mark Olsen and Gary Louris singing “The First Time”, a criminally catchy Jayhawks-ish tune about being afraid of new experiences, be it riding a bike, taking a swim or greeting the new babysitter.
Ralph Covert once again shares songwriting credit with his daughter Fiona, on the musical pogo stick “Pickle Me Juice”. With lyrics like “fibbily dibbily nibbily cake / ate a piece of pie on a roller skate”, it’s a novelty song that’s as bouncy as it is absurd. The most adventurous song on “All Around Ralph’s World” is about a kid who has the golden disappearing touch. “Black Hole Boy” loses everything, including, in the end, parts of his own song. It’s my favorite on the album.
According to both my girls, the funniest part of “A Dog Named Bruce” (the Mouse’s most-requested new Ralph’s World song) is when Covert asks the listener “Have you ever seen a dog with a suntan?”, as if getting a tan was the most outlandish thing Bruce the dog did while on his “train trip across America”.
Bonus Thoughts: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Ralph’s World is no longer on the Disney label (hurray!) For “All Around Ralph’s World”, the band joined forces with one of the most well-respected indie rock labels of the past two decades – Bar/None Records (Freedy Johnston, Of Montreal, 10,000 Maniacs, Spinto Band and, going way back, Sam Prekop’s Shrimp Boat!)
Bonus Bonus Thought: Pick up a free mp3 of “All About Bob”, courtesy of Bar/None. Just right click here (save as, etc, etc.).
Bonus Bonus Bonus Thought (an OWTK 1st!): Listen to 7 of the 16 new songs (including 3 of my ‘best moment’ songs) here, on the Ralph’s World MySpace page.
Photo by Peter Thompson
Okay, Time to Wrap it Up with a Nice Little Bow: There are few kid’s bands who garner a ton of attention and generate a ton of excitement ahead of a new record’s release date. Ralph’s World is on that very short list, alongside They Might Be Giants, Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes. As a veteran of the all-ages circuit, Ralph’s World has amassed a legion of fans and a boatload of big time press, all of it well-deserved. “All Around Ralph’s World”, the band’s 9th album, continues their legacy of well-produced, well-written and well-performed family friendly rock-n-roll music. This new effort is a breezy musical trip where new shared experiences and being in motion are the underlining themes. For my money, the album’s greatness doesn’t reveal itself until “All About Bob”, 5 songs in, and from that point forward Covert and Co. never take their collective foot of the gas.
At 35 minutes long, the journey “All Around Ralph’s World” will go by ridiculously fast, but it’s a trip you’re going to want to take again and again and again.
*”All Around Ralph’s World” was provided to OWTK for review. The opinions expressed above are unbiased and true – no arm twisting took place in the review process.
