Sunny Ali & the Kid are back with their brand of “psychedelic country punk” and a new EP of songs “for kids about being a kid by the Kid” called Kids. Our much beloved partners in crime must live by the acronym K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) with most of their tracks on the album barely breaking the one minute mark, which you could definitely consider keeping it in the spirit of punk. However, their latest effort probably leans more towards being a rock ‘n’ roll album in the earliest sense of the phrase containing a rockabilly feel from the 1950s which combines country and jazz with folk and gospel music, however, predominantly led by a ukulele (the "hip" instrument of choice by indie music singer-songwriters in the past half decade or so). But once again, Sunny Ali & the Kid manage to keep the listener entertained yet still wanting more which is a lesson that others might want to learn from.
The opener “drum solo” is a brief jaunt into chaotic psychedelia with its intentional time-altering intro and brief drum solo sounding more like a child banging away on a toy drum kit as well as pots and pans or an acid-fueled madman wilding out to the jam session in his own mind than the usual excessive rock ‘n’ roll drum solos that you might be expecting from the song title. “honky girl” channels the ghost of Elvis and other rockabilly/rock ‘n’ roll pioneers by putting some serious feel good boogie in your step, while the jazzier drum work in “team work” with its laidback but somewhat ominous vocals quickly shifts the mood of the EP. The track “the bug” reminds me of a more upbeat derivative of “This is best” from Sunny Ali & the Kid’s most excellent debut Try Harder, and it also clocks in as the longest song on the album at a whopping one minute and forty-nine seconds. The duo returns with a bit of stripped-down rockabilly goodness on the following song “two girls” with its upbeat ukulele strumming and handclap rhythm section. (And somehow I feel that the two girls and two boys are doing more than just having “fun” with the tongue-in-cheek wit of our urban cowboys.) They close out Kids with “lone star” which sounds more like a bonus track that was left off of their Halloween themed album Spook Wave Vol. 1 with its groovy bass line and classic “Coconut” vibe ala Harry Nilsson. That’s cool. I still say, “More Sunny Ali & the Kid, please.” You can grab Kids for free in exchange for your e-mail here. – H.M Kauffman