Flagpole Review of
"Music Makes Me Happy"

Arresting adj. 1. catching the attention; 2. Striking.
This is good.

Mawkish, adj. 1. sickish or slightly nauseating. 2. characterized by sickly sentimentality.
This is bad.

To be arresting, not mawkish, is the aim of Pam Blanchard and the Sunny-Side Up Band on their new release, Music Makes Me Happy. Sure, any band wants that, but Pam and the gang are writing and performing for the audience most usually inundated with and unable to defend themselves from song after song "characterized by sickly sentimentality."

Yup, kids' records can be a bland, syrupy, mess. "Music Makes Me Happy" twists many old assumptions; it's a recording whose songwriting and musicianship will arrest and entertain kids, and, happily, their parents &,guardians as well.

The songs touch on some of the oddest things that will captivate a kid's attention. Yeah, there's a song about a butterfly, and it's pretty and all, but the thing almost dies. In "Stay Close To Me," well, that sick, slow gazelle gets it in the first verse, and then the cheetah gets run off by the even hungrier hyenas. This is not, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family." Then there's the catchiest song ever about the joys of stubborn independence, "Everybody Leave Me Alone." But it's not all darkly themed stuff to be sure. "Angel Headed Your Way," "Music Makes Me Happy," "Oh No, Everybody's Happy" and others extol the happier side of things, and the weird songs all have a positive slant to them.

The songs are well played and well arranged. The musicians are a talented bunch, and apply a deft touch to a wide array of instruments, throwing in a mandolin here, a jaw harp there, and a banjo around the comer. Pam's voice has a two-tiered usefulness, too; most of the time it's pretty much speak/singing which helps get the lyrics across, but it's also a lovely instrument when it soars up to the higher registers. This helps kids learn an important lesson that music is a real thing, made by real people. It's not merely a product that appears in stores, just another thing to be packaged, bought and sold.

I mean, this isn't the record you'll reach for late at night in a smoky, dizzy room, but it's not an album that's only good for keeping children occupied, either. It's a solid effort, succeeding in both its aim to entertain an underage audience and provide good listening for jaundiced ears.