Deep into their second decade as children’s musicians, Rolie Polie Guacamole has enjoyed a special niche as the kids’ rock band that sometimes tilts Spanish. Thus, there’s the anthemic title track of their new release Avocado, as well as the Spanish equivalent, “Aquacate,” further inside. Bandmates Frank Gallo (son of veteran kid’s music artist Lou Gallo) and Andrew Tuzhilin deliver a sonic blast of bilingual childhood energy that focuses on fun, family, and life outside the COVID bubble.
Lou Gallo started recording children’s music when his son Frank was two years old. In that way, Frank Gallo was born into the family business—he witnessed firsthand as his dad touring with Lou Gallo and the Very Hungry Band. Frank and Andrew created Rolie Polie Guacamole in 2006 and added a Spanish twist to their second-generation kindie sound.
Who doesn’t want to get back to the ballpark, as embodied in “Ay Batta Batta”? And there’s a whole story song about “Basketball Jane.” Über-producer Dean Jones is back at the helm, but the legendary Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, more) lends a hand to give “Fire Truck” the extra push down the hill to extreme metal. Coming down from that manic production is the exquisite “A Very Quiet Song.” It’s Christmas in June as Rolie Polie Guacamole puts their stamp on the classic “Jingle Bells.” There’s a fully-formed comedy participation sketch as they go on a journey “Dancing on the Sun”:
Dancing on the sun, dancing on the sun,
It’s a lot of fun when you’re dancing on the sun
But you must go fast because it’s hot hot hot hot hot
There’s a trick to making children’s music that doesn’t sounds like it was conceived on a conveyor belt and packaged to meet certain pre-determined standards (“We need a dinosaur song! We need a bedtime song!”), and Rolie Polie Guacamole habitually walks this line as if it’s child’s play. The end results are exactly that, so yo saludo to Frank and Andrew and Avocado for all.
Avocado is available from Rolie Polie Guacamole’s website, Amazon, and Apple Music.
Here is the video for the title track, “Avocado”:
