Tiny Masters Of Today - Bang Bang Boom Cake

Mute

It’s hard work growing up these days. Harder still, doing it in the full-on glare of the public eye. Look at the glut of former chid stars’ failing to adjust to the adult world for ample evidence. It’s a culture of supply and demand, with red-tops and dirtsheet blogs feeding the public’s insatiable desire to peer into the grit and fallibility of the recently whiter than white’s lives. It’s gotten so out of hand of late, Hollywood insiders are slashing odds on which of its fame-hungry starlets will be the first to crash and burn in the sickeningly named Death Race (apparently Lindsay Lohan is currently favourite). You have to question the judgement and motivation of any parental unit that throws their wee lambs to the proverbial slaughter of an industry increasingly chewing up and spitting out child stars the day they turn 18. Yet still the entertainment industry churns them out.

Meet New York duo, Ivan (age 13) and Ada (age 11), otherwise known as Tiny Masters Of Today. Okay so they may be a world away from the trainwreck lifestyles of Ms Spears or Lohan but it’s worth remembering those two sprung from the trusted stables of Disney before everything went skew-whiff. Our popstars are becoming younger and younger and Tiny Masters Of Today are lowering the bar so much they make the cherubic be your own PET look like geriatrics.

Listening to their debut album ‘Bang Bang Boom Cake’ however, you’re stuck between feeling incredibly patronising (aww cute, kids playing at being rockstars) and being genuinely impressed. A lot of the credit for that of course is down to Ivan and Ada’s winning charm and natural musical flair. A large portion of the credit must also go to the adult supervision they’re lucky to have access to. Luminaries such as Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Russell Simins (on drums and production), ex-Moldy Peach Kimya Dawson, Fred Schenider of The B-52s and Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes all lend a wisened hand to proceedings. Despite the musical chaperoning, TMOT retain a genuine sense of wide-eyed fun and enjoyment (if anything they bring out the kids in their guests). Compositions are basic at best hip-hop inflected pop-punk but that’s not a criticism. No one would look at a child’s crayon scrawl and compare it with the works of Michelangelo and so the same principle should apply with this release.

What they have created is far from essential listening and never really escapes the trap of twee curio but as an unfussy introduction to the music world and indicator of future glories, it’s top drawer and better than the debut offerings of many bands twice their age. Let’s just hope they don’t go off the rails in a few years time.

Words_David McLaughlin

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘K.I.D.S.’, ‘Disco Bomb’, ‘Book Song’
FOR FANS OF: Helen Love, Moldy Peaches, Smoosh

Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.