"Fact: F is for fart. G is for Gorilla fart. H is for Huge Gorilla Fart."

Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt

(K Records: 2008)

Kimya Dawson has released an album that....your kid needs to hear!!??!!

It's true.  But come on.  You knew it was coming, I mean, if her work with Antsy Pants wasn't foreboding enough, she was pregnant you know.  It would be weird if she didn't write songs about children now.  Alas, rest your weary musical fears, it's still the old Kimya.

Dawson has been around for a fairly long time, releasing some indie gems with Adam Green as The Moldy Peaches.  Yet while the Peaches did some really great things as a band, for me the driving force in the band was always Dawson’s witty lyrics, rambunctious energy, and simplicity in style and delivery.  Her fame “skyrocketed” with the release of the movie, Juno, for which she allowed several songs to be used (the film features both her solo work and work with her other projects, including The Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants).  I use the term “skyrocketed” only because in most serious music circles, The Moldy Peaches a.k.a. Kimya and Adam Green had already been digested, along with to an extent, K Records, as one of the great “hidden treasures” of the anti-folk genre.  But I digress...

Dawson and Green have not officially taken the band off the shelf but haven’t really played together for about 5 years.  During that time, both have concentrated on their solo careers, Dawson’s being the more prolific and, most likely, successful.  But that isn’t a slight against Green who is an amazingly creative dude; it’s more of a fact of life for Dawson’s new “mainstream” fame.  Mainstream:  never thought I’d be able to mention that word anywhere near Kimya Dawson – it feels strange and weird and good, all at the same time.

Anyways, much of what Dawson has done recently (within the last 3-5 years) has revolved around her becoming more grown up and mature.  She had a baby named Panda in 2006 and since then much of her work has seemingly been child friendly and cute lullabies.  Alphabutt is her opus to her child and is replete with songs that mothers the world over can relate to and find common ground with.

If having a child has taken some of the edge off for Dawson, it certainly hasn’t taken anything away from her unique ability to craft a beautifully melodic song, “Little Monster Babies” being a case in point:  “...I build it out of blocks, they tear it all down, little monster babies destroying my town.”  It’s a wonderful song about playing blocks with your kid – so small, so minute, seemingly so inconsequential – yet so awesome.  The title track, “Alphabutt,” is a cute little take on the traditional alphabet song that i would teach my own students if I wasn’t so sure I’d be reprimanded.  “Bobby-O” is the closest thing on the album to a Moldy Peaches song, and it’s pretty great and funny.  “Louie” is a song, ostensibly, about the family dog named, yes – Louie.  “Smoothie” is a cute little crafty song about a mother being worried by the absence of her unborn baby’s kicks.  The remedy?  A smoothie!  “Because when momma drinks a smoothie little baby goes wild.”  “I Like Bears” is a nice, quick little sing-a-long; a marching tune for 5-year olds.  “Seven Hungry Tigers” is another cute and funny jingle about crazy tigers living in your underwear drawer.  “Happy Home (Keep on Writing)” is a bit more serious and refined and, as with many of Dawson’s songs, offers positive messages about fairly serious, “real life” stuff:

                When I was a kid we would play Annie at recess

                I was always Sandy because I was the smallest

                From all that crawling on the blacktop

                There were holes in all my jeans

                In the toes of my bowed shoes but I never complained

                Because I didn’t think that I could sing

                See I never perfected that nasally thing

                The way all the kids sang in the school play

                Now I know it’s better if we don’t all sound the same

                Now I know it’s better if we don’t all sound the same

“Wiggle My Tooth” is an unabashed anthem for those about to lose their baby teeth:  the back-up singers are incredible, especially the young boy in whose voice you can almost taste the brashness encapsulated in every “tooth.”  “I Love You Sweet Baby” is a pretty straightforward song – hint – it’s exactly like the song says.  I love the way she actually sings everything down to the last small detail – a quality that is lacking in songwriting these days.  “Pee-pee in the Potty,” while only a 30-second “song,” is quite amazing: “Pee-pee in the potty, pee-pee in the potty, starts as milk from mommy, then that goes through your body and then you make a pee-pee.  Pee-pee in the potty.”  Mothers everywhere are nodding approvingly.  The good ‘ole kazoo makes a grand appearance on “Uncle Hukee’s House,” possibly a song about going to see a lesbian family – not sure.  “We’re All Animals” is another one of those genius songs you wish you had when your mom and dad were trying to tell you about sex, Darwin, and boys and girls, etc...  For example:  “When you get older your body will grow hair on your legs, your armpits, and even down there.  Some people shave theirs off but I let mine grow – because I’m an animal.”  Given that Kimya’s daughter’s name is Panda, the content of “Little Panda Bear” should be self-evident.  The last song on the album, “Sunbeams and Some Beans,” is my far the most serious song on the album.  The song pits two characters on opposite sides: one, a guy named Sam Champion – a TV guy, hungering for fame and glory; the other, Grand Champion – a big-hearted farmer who goes out of his way to share with Sam.  Grand does things because people need to eat; Sam does things for the attention.  Dawson alludes to the fact of poverty in America despite a food surplus.  The song also deals with the lack of compassion and simple common sense that has largely been forgotten nowadays.

Alphabutt is a cute album: it’s funny, clever, and crafted almost entirely for children – albeit a special type of child in this day and age.  Most parents would scoff at this attempt at children’s songs, but a lot of my friends would think differently.  That being said it’s probably more accurate to say that this album will eventually be popular among younger parents (or, maybe more accurately, me, my wife, and our children).  But that doesn’t really matter much – the fact remains that Alphabutt is really unique and the way Dawson can craft a story is truly amazing and inspiring.  There are times when I’m just like, “What the fuck?” but those moments are few and only occur because I’m hearing something I don’t expect.  Tracks like “Uncle Hukee’s House,” “Little Panda Bear,” “Louie,” “I Love You Sweet Baby,” and “Pee-pee in the Potty” aren’t my favourites but are listenable because of Dawson’s sheer enthusiasm and charisma.

So, yes, recommended to anyone who likes Kimya Dawson’s previous releases, either as The Moldy Peaches or her solo work.  You will find songs you don’t like, but there will be more that you do like – guaranteed.