Tune In, Turn On, Bring the Kids

The other day I found myself stuck in a stalled subway car with no reading material. Digging around my bag, my options were limited to a handful of old ATM receipts, or the Sippy Cups new Electric Storyland CD, which I’d been toting around unopened for a week.
My first impression as I browsed the lyrics was, the Flaming Lips could have written these: I know a girl with a funny name/she’s got a yellow hat and she plays in the rain/she lives down the street and she’s called Springtime Fantastic. To say nothing of the songs about living in a little house of Jello, or a trippy ode to a very cool jellyfish.
I did in fact make it home eventually, at which point I marched right to my CD player so I could put music to the fantastic lyrics. It did not disappoint.
The songs are a combo of groovy rhythms and sophisticated melodies that, to be honest, I could listen to without my kid around. You can definitely hear the 70s psychedelia influence–not surprising, considering the popular band is based in the San Francisco area.
This is the kind of album that kids can love repeatedly without once driving their parents crazy. Score. And hey, if for some reason if your CD player is on the fritz? Buy it anyway. I can assure you the liner notes alone make a very good read. –Liz