Let's get this out of the way: Lemonsquare (http://www.lemonsquaremusic.com) are not for everyone. In fact, the group (actually the duo of Alan Schlaifer and Louisette Geiss) is not supposed to be for the enjoyment of all although they're not excluding anybody. Lemonsquare produces music for young children, from diapers to perhaps first grade when this stuff will begin to grate on them for its simplicity and cheeseball lyrics. To the tykes out there, Lemonsquare will be treated like royalty, and that's what they're aiming for.
Quality children's music is not easy to find; much of it is incredibly generic and doesn't even have any true musicianship. The same cannot be said of Lemonsquare. Geiss' warm vocal melodies and Schlaifer's folky, jangly guitars makes one wonder if Lemonsquare could've been a solid hippie band during the Summer of Love.
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The songs are goofy, educational, and mercilessly cheerful - just as they should be. Thankfully, they're pleasant to the ear and are not annoying. The jubilant "Very Veggie" might've actually made me eat my asparagus back in the day. "Bear Knows Best," which uses animal noises as hooks, is probably the best of the lot. Many of the tunes have folk-rock structures, the biggest shift in style being "Bathtime," which is drenched in poppy keyboards.
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