JIM COSGROVE “SWIMMING IN NOODLES”
The Sound: Lighthearted, laid-back rock & roll under the heavy influence of Hawaiian shirts.
In the Cafeteria, He Sits With: Brady Rymer, Joe’s Backyard Band
Best Moments: It’s easy to know when a kindie musician has a kid in their household. “Little Miss Floppy Socks” is the kind of song that could only have been written by a dad (or mom) with a precocious youngster in their care. Undoubtedly, one of Cosgrove’s adorable little ladies was the inspiration for this airy, balloon of a song with it’s sock-drawer imagery and steel-drum goodness. I awoke at 3:00 am this morning singing the Jimmy Buffett-esque chorus. So yeah, it’s pretty contagious.
The good majority of Cosgrove’s work, past and present, centers around family, love and happiness – not the worst topics in the world, but often a heaping mound of hot poo in song form. Cosgrove, however, folds in the lovey-dovey with equal amounts of grace and humor (not unlike the musical side of Bill Harley’s portfolio). The results are often poetic and always cheeky and funny to the ears of his intended audience.
The Bear never passes on the chance to sing and laugh along with “Spaghetti And Goofballs”, a song that is just about as goofy as it’s title. She stops just short of requesting smiley sauce and chuckle cheese at the dinner table though. “Spaghetti And Goofballs” features some nifty syncopated piano work – my favorite musical moments on the entire disc, actually.
In high school, I could never keep electrons and protons straight (or much of anything else taught to me in science class). Thankfully, Cosgrove explains that “We’re Electrons” and the girls and I cannot help but “wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle” during the danciest ditty on the CD. Oh crap, I’m still not paying attention to the lessons – too busy dancing!
Finally, how can I not love “Lucky Me”? I, like Jim Cosgrove, have two very young daughters and, also like him, I’m fortunate enough to spend a ton of time in their company. When he sings “We read our favorite book / now it’s time to rest our eyes / cuddle up and take a nap as a family / ooh ooh ooh lucky me” I can’t help but smile knowingly and say to myself: yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
Bonus Thoughts: “Swimming in Noodles” might not sound like the most modern record ever made, it doesn’t have any beeps or hisses and is completely devoid of new wave fuzz, but it’s unmistakeably 21st century in at least one way. Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove’s latest was crowdsourced, pulling in funding from fans far and wide to cover the costs of recording, production and of Grammy-nominated producer Tor Hyams. Kudos to Cosgrove, and to all who contributed to this effort.
Okay, Time to Wrap it Up with a Nice Little Bow: **Full Disclosure: I’ve got a major soft spot for Mr. Stinky Feet and his adorable, kind family**
Cosgrove clearly adores his line of work, and not because of the relative glitz & glamor. His obvious love of his chosen profession is what we love so much about him. In this way, he’s a lot like fellow kindie rocker Brady Rymer. They both weave their infectious, sunshine-y personalities into their songs and performances with an outcome miles away from a mess. While his musical style is, for me, more ‘nearby side street’ then ‘right up my alley’, “Swimming in Noodles” is, in many ways, like flipping through an old family photo album. You can count on deep sighs at the cuteness of your children’s forever-gone infancy and wide smiles upon spotting those distant memories too fuzzy to recall without visual help.. But every now and again you’ll see a haircut or a waistline that’ll make you turn the page a little quicker. It’s all a part of our history though, so it’s all good…just like Jim Cosgrove’s “Swimming in Noodles”.
Sample several of tracks, including “Spaghetti And Goofballs”, and buy the album directly from Jim Cosgrove here.
*Jim Cosgrove’s “Swimming in Noodles” was provided to OWTK for review. The opinions expressed above are unbiased and true – no arm twisting took place in the review process.
