Crayonettes - Playing Out

The Crayonettes consist of two women who bonded over a mutual disdain of children’s tunes when they began the long journey of motherhood. One mum, Kathryn Williams, a Mercury Prize-nominated folk-ish singer-songwriter, the other mum, Anna Spencer, a Newcastle punk queen from a band called Musical Vomit. Their concept is as endearing as their music: they’ve created a debut, adult friendly album for children which consists of more intelligence than silliness, focused on useful information that covers the likes of animals, games and questions.

A great revamp of popular teeth cleaning tune ‘brushing your teeth is great’ is opener ‘Disco Teeth’. The song has catchy guitar riffs and soft folky vocals which make it intelligible yet bearable. It’s probably not advisable to teach children the ways of David Bowie but there’s no harm in them experiencing his music, and the electronically styled ‘Let’s Dance On The Moon’ takes inspiration from the man himself making it a great listen for mothers around in the 1980s. Lyrics remain amusing throughout, and even the most adult of adults will find themselves chuckling at some point.

‘Emergency’ has a tropic feel, a song about a fireman that rescues a cat from a tree, and ‘Pirates On A Bus’ has a heavy guitar rift that would never normally be found on any childrens CD. ‘Rainy Day’, meanwhile, is a lovely 1980s inspired indie piece, comparable to an old Marine Girls record, and ‘Hopscotch’ is a kindergarten rap, reminiscent of really early, exuberant hip-hop. Fascinating stuff, really.

This album is directed at the music-snob-come-new parent (in the nicest possible way). It’s not quite ‘Hickory Dickery Dock’, but it would seem they have achieved their goal. The need for a follow up is debatable and I find it hard to see where the duo will go from here, but all the same, they may just have revolutionized the children’s music industry and I for one will be following their progress.