About this item

Anybody who's gotten a boogie-inducing earful of Buzz Buzz will back the claim that Laurie Berkner sailed right past the sophomore slump. On this, her 1998 release, the Ani DiFranco of kids' music, as she's been tagged, inspires still more hands-in-the-air at-home hoe-downs among the 6-and-under set with her evenhanded blend of zany, zingy original songs and well-chosen traditional numbers. Crying out for special mention in the former category are "The Pretzel Store," on which a gang of "twisty, curly, hole-y, and straight" salty characters escape from the clutches of eager snackers in a variety of inventive ways; "Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz) ," a surefire vehicle for revving up round-the-living-room arm-flappers; "Ice Cream Cone," a handy directive for Ben and Jerry's beginners ("You can eat it from the side / You can eat it from the top / You can lick it round and round / Like you're never gonna stop") ; and "The Cookie Bakers of the Night,"which is bound to get a brood of wannabe cookie monsters mixing pretend batter and waving wooden spoons in the air. Traditionals, especially the rocking rendition of "The More We Get Together," the voices-only "Rum Sum Sum" with its souped-up lyrics, and the bass- and alto-sax enhanced "Erie Canal," roundly impress. Berkner's much-lauded flair for firing up little ones' imaginations aside, what's perhaps best about her is her sharpshooting when it comes to crowd pleasers. Her smooth singing and can't-be-denied guitar chops keep Barney-bombarded grownups from wanting to climb out the car window. With the right sort of luck, the buzz on this record will transcend its title and win Berkner an extended band of intergenerational admirers. --Tammy La Gorce