Animal Crackers

Wee Hairy Beasties | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bloodshot Records
• ASIN: B000IOMVYQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,415 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart and Catchy, November 26, 2006

By 

T. C. Ross (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal Crackers (Audio CD)

After just one listen, my two year old was singing out loud for Wee Hairy Beasties. Seriously. We were jumping for each "wee" and giggling, and she wanted to hear more about Cyril the Karaoke Squirrel. And all this in an an albumn that doesn't make my ears bleed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly original and totally indebted, January 7, 2008

By 

Z Recommends "zrecs.com" (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animal Crackers (Audio CD)

Wee Hairy Beasties brings together a mix of bluegrass, Dixieland jazz, and blues that offers a relevant blueprint for a model of goofy kids' music that demands stellar musicianship and timelessness. If the band could be said to have a frontman it'd be former Mekons member John Langford, whose aggressive but friendly brogue makes a major contribution in addition to his lead acoustic guitar playing and percussion work; other band members and guests also take on vocal duties in a well-balanced blend of voices on this entertaining and often downright funny album.

The band isn't afraid of caricature ("Housefly Blues" is what you might suspect, and "I'm an A.N.T." is a straight-up parody of "I'm a M.A.N."), but overall, Wee Hairy Beasties creates a unique and cohesive musical world for children to enter when listening to the album. Two of our favorite tracks are songs which purport to back dancing animals performing for listeners, complete with supportive hollers from the band and comments from the animals themselves. This album is a deliberate, if restless, throwback to an earlier time, complete with jug, kazoo, washboard, kick drums, and a lot of zaniness, and it works beautifully.

Top Tracks: Wee Hairy Beasties / Ragtime Duck / I'm an A.N.T. / Cuttlefish Bone / Cyril the Karaoke Squirrel / Lightnin' the Turtle

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I got ants in my pants (but no crocodile tears), February 19, 2007

By 

Michael Cluff "Geek-for-Hire" (Galloway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal Crackers (Audio CD)

I was nervous when I ordered this. As a longtime fan of Jon Langford and Sally Timms, I feared that I was foisting my tastes on my five-year-old daughter. Would this join her stack of unlistened CDs?

My fears vanished before the opening title track. My daughter loves this record even more than I do. The music is clever, engaging, and best of all -- not cloying.