Ants Ants Ants Come Marching In

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is one of those hot trending educational topics (Why do I seem to be leading with that sentiment so often recently). Ants Ants Ants take that theme, throw in an appreciation of the Beatles, Harry Nilsson, and the Alan Parsons Project and blend everything into their debut CD, WHY WHY WHY?

Multi-hyphenates Johnny Clay (The Dimes) and Dave Gulick (Derby) have made their mark in the Portland, Oregon and surrounding area, including national commercials, etc. I've written before about how this country houses pockets of darn good children's music that oftentimes burns so fiercely that the recordings permeate the ozone layer and make it back to my corner of the sky. WHY WHY WHY? is one of those discs.

WHY WHY WHY? features a craftsman's dozen (as opposed to a baker's dozen) nature-centric songs, including the Parsonsesque, twangy "I Spy." "Helicopter Leaves" could be Jeff Lynne's idea of an ELO tune for tykes, and isn't even about aircraft – it's about fronds that descend in a circular motion from their plant of origin. The peppy "Ants" is as close to a title track as you're going to get. "Where Does the Moon Go?" has an infectious chorus that dares you not to sing along, in almost-Traveling Wilburys way:

Where do the stars go in the daytime?
Where do they come from every night?
How do they find their way to the same place in the sky?

Ants Ants Ants are not re-inventing the wheel here. Smart, catchy kids pop never goes out of style and is always welcome in my living room (and car). The answer to WHY WHY WHY? is just because because because they can.

WHY WHY WHY? is available on May 18 from Ants Ants Ants website, Soundcloud, iTunes, and Amazon.

Here is the video of their song, "Blue":