Hullabaloo 'Raise a Ruckus' CD Review

Spring is in the air and you know what that means. We finally get to have some fun in the sun! Of course, we're celebrating bloggy style! Join us all Spring and Summer long for some great product finds for these awesome seasons. Of course we'll have tons of great prizes for you to win too so make sure to subscribe to our blog to stay in the loop!

Here at Hullabaloo World Headquarters, we like to say “We’re putting the music back in kid’s music!” because, until recently, it’s been a pretty sad state of affairs. A lot of parents raised on rock’n’roll have a hard time down-shifting to singing dinosaurs and hamsters and, frankly, we don’t blame them. We’re proud to be part of a growing number of artists that have found a way to honor and entertain kids without making their parents want to jump out of a moving mini-van. Steve’s a folksinger and a songwriter and Brendan is a long-time rock’n’roll drummer so, you’ll hear traces of twang, funk, rock, folk and blues in our songs. We play the time-tested favorites we all grew up with and we write songs that make kids laugh, think, sing, dance, clap and stomp their feet.

I'll admit it. I was that parent that said, "Uh, no way!" when it came to kid's music in the car. I think what ruined it for me was a free cd we got at the pediatrician's office. It was cheesy, it was outdated, and most of all, it was so upbeat, even a cheerleader would have been turned off. I immediately regretted this decision when it was just Sonshine and I driving 600 miles one way to see my parents. We both ended up with hoarse voices. (Mine from attempting to sing any children's song I remembered and Sonshine crying for me to stop!) I think every family should have a children's band they can agree on and we finally found ours!

Hullabaloo is a two man band with an old school country soul and a rock and roll beat. Steve (a surfer & K-6 music teacher) and Brenden (a self proclaimed pirate) explain it best themselves as offering, "Free-Range, Organic Kid Folk" music. Yes and yes. Most of the songs on their new album, Raise a Ruckus, are short, just long enough to keep a tiny attention span engaged, but long enough for your kid to get something from it. Some songs are repetitive, but, not to ad nauseum, no more so than any other song on the radio. You can hear a fair amount of soul, twang, blues, rock & roll, and country sprinkled nicely within the songs over-all country feel. I found myself drummer on the steering wheel with a goofy grin plastered across my face after just one listening of the Raise a Ruckus cd.

You can really tell that these two have been friends since kindergarten as their music just seems to flow seamlessly together. Our favorite song on the whole cd had to be the silly Dad Upside Down song, because there is nothing sillier than hearing about mom and dad upside down! My two year old loves it! We're also partial to Sippy Cup, Green Beans Everywhere, we get a little giddy up in our hitch to the fiddles in Raise a Ruckus and I can't help but start to sway when I hear a ukulele like in Favorite Day! There are twelve songs total that run for thirty-two minutes, just the right length to usually get us to where we're going or to and from the grocery store!


If you're looking for a new type of kids music that won't send you in search of earplugs, then Hullabaloo is the perfect down to earth, folk band you've been looking for. Head to their website, listening to a few songs and you'll find not just your kids jumping around, but your toes might be tapping too!

Connect
You can connect with Hullabaloo on their website and Facebook pages

Buy It
You can purchase the Raise a Ruckus CD from their website's store for $12