Better Than Good: The Twigs' Bicoastal Sister Act

Being sisters is tough. Being twin sisters in even tougher.

Located in Los Angeles (Linda Good) and Charlottesville, Virgina (Laura Good), the Twigs did not get on the same page, musically, until there was an ocean of distance between them. After high school, Linda went to London to study music and exchanged tapes of song ideas with her sister. Eventually (long story short) they evolved into The Twigs.

The duo recorded several contemporary CDs, before embarking on an album for kids. They would ask Laura's three-year-old daughter Alena (a featured performer) for suggestions. They would tailor the songs around her concepts, which turned into many of the tracks on JUMP RIGHT IN.

Undeniably a children's CD, JUMP RIGHT IN plays with harmonies and instruments and even attempts "Frere Jacques," as if Raffi's version wasn't definitive for the young 'uns. Past that song, there's the uplifting title track, as well as the ukelele-tinged "I Got A Great Idea":

I've got a great idea, inside my head.
I've got a great idea, that's what I said.
Lucky me and lucky you
I've got a great idea that's coming true.

C'mon let's go outside all day
We can build a fort or write a play
Climb a tree or plant some seeds
I've got a great idea that's coming true.

Other aural highlights include "Sunshine," "Baby, Don't Cry," and "Blueberry Jam," the story of when peanut butter went to jail. The vocals were reminiscent of the East Coast-based Nields (Merissa and Katryna). The Twigs have a soft-rock sensibility (which comes from their early days listening to Bread, according to their bio) and are earnestly seeking to "expand" their audience by growing fans, literally. JUMP RIGHT IN is a quick (26 minutes) easy listen, perfect for car rides with a built-in "fade out" one-two punch of "Pretty Ponies" and "Time to Sleep." You can spend your time looking for other female vocalists who can harmonize so effortlessly. Or you can jump right in with the Twigs.

JUMP RIGHT IN is available from the Twigs website, Amazon, iTunes, and CDBABY.

Here is the video for the song "Baby Don't Cry":