THE HAPPY RACERS “READY SET GO”
An opening guitar lick borrowed from one of John Mayer’s palaces of seduction turns an endearing, no-more-monsters-at-bedtime tune into the most Triple A-commercial-radio ready kindie song to come along in ages. “Lovabye Dragon” is the kind of hit that, had “Ready Set Go” been an adult album, would never have been buried in the final third of the disc like it is here. This is Track 1 material; the kind of song that should be wearing out the satellite signal of Sirius/XM’s Kids Place Live and of Radio Disney (if they had a soul).
The Happy Racers appear to be a natural offshoot of The Verve Pipe effect on kids music; melodic, pleasant & fun, if a bit on the surface. And safe. Sure there are suburban elements of risk here (the unfortunate use of the tired-as-of-1991 phrase “word to your mother”), but “Ready Set Go” is screaming for a dose of real edge to achieve its potential as a great rock-n-roll record for kids and their grown-ups.
Still, “Ready Set Go” is a clean, earnest collection that, by all rights, I should not enjoy as much as I do. While I vow never ever allow myself to cozy up to a Wikipedia rap (“What In The World”), the writing and arrangements on nearly all of these peppy numbers do make me smile. And not even begrudgingly.
As far as covers of The Beatles “Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da” go, I’ll take the funky interpretation of Sugar Free Allstars over The Happy Racers’ good, but straight-as-an-arrow version; a microcosm of the whole body of work here.
“Ready Set Go” ends with the words “I want to be as brave as I can be / And never be afraid to take the plunge” (“I Want To Dream). There is no doubting their songwriting ability, I just kinda wish The Happy Racers were a bit braver on their kindie debut.
Sample the entire album:
Ready Set Go by The Happy Racers
Then download it here:
*OWTK received a copy of The Happy Racers “Ready Set Go” for review consideration. The opinions above are honest and unbiased.
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