Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang tour with a live show aimed at playing rock & roll for kids between two and seven years of age. Get Up & Dance, her third album, has much in common with other children's records in its focus on upbeat songs about learning basic tasks and social interactions, whether it's dancing, riding a bike, knowing that "Red Means Stop," starting to read, and so on. A difference from many such records is that they're performed in a variety of cheery mainstream pop/rock styles. Lead singer Gwendolyn (who co-wrote the songs with drummer/singer Brandon Jay) has the sort of high sweet, chirpy voice suggestive of the more child-like rock and girl group singers, and thus is suitable for these kind of audiences. If you're an adult and considering how easy it will be to hear around the house before buying it for your kids, mileage might vary: the vocals, and the songs, can verge on the icky-saccharine, if with slightly more of a power pop feel than most such products, as well as occasional boogie-R&B-rock flavors. With only slightly different production, "Sunny Day," the best track, could have almost qualified as an actual late-'60s/early-'70s sunshine pop record for the pre-teen (but post-seven-year-old) market. That's the kind of rock critic comparison, however, that won't occur to many listeners of this CD, who'll find it mostly useful as a benign combination learning-entertainment tool when their children are of a certain age.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo