As Generations X and Y headed into the great unknowns of parenthood, a new genre of music was born. Music targeted at hipster’s kids has made indulging the young ones much more bearable, and Rosendale’s Dog on Fleas, with five full-length records and 10 years of performing, has certainly earned its stripes in the children’s-music revolution. Most importantly, for us Johnny-come-lately parental units, the Fleas have a knack for mixing timely themes and a variety of instrumentation into tunes not dumbed down to nursery-rhyme innocuousness. Beautiful World, as prolific as it is creative, contains 15 tracks and at least as many genres of thoughtful, kid-friendly lyrics and melodies. The title track’s vocals melt in your mouth, with an early Phish aftertaste as flutes hover over a Tom Waitsy horseshoe clank. “Water Planet” is Sex Mob sass smacking into hints of klezmer bouncing off a New Orleans funeral procession, while “Beach Song” is loose island folk, as free and fun as a child dancing with abandon. “Dumpling” is Steve Malkmus pop begging to be repeated; “Lima Bean” imbibes the coy and chiding voice of Lorette Velvette through a loungey train-track cakewalk; and “Where Would You Fly?” has a musical saw. In the brilliant “I Love Your Accent,” wonderfully foreign voices illustrate a musical lesson to not fear the un-same. Talented guests abound, including Uncle Rock (aka Chronogram’s Robert Burke Warren), another well-known local bard of songs for the young. www.dogonfleas.com.
This article appears in May 2009.
