| It's been called Nickelodeon's answer to Hannah Montana, but The Naked Brothers Band is more like a latter-day Partridge Family, only you get the sense that Nat and Alex Wolff--stars of the TV series, singers in the band, and real-life brothers--lead way more balanced lives than Danny Bonaduce ever did. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise that, with the exception of "Banana Smoothie," a song that sounds extracted from a Wiggles record and grooved up for a slightly older audience, they've crafted a solid debut CD. Where the Partridges had a handful of memorable hooks and killer harmonies, the Nakeds--Nat and Alex and four non-related kid bandmates--have Beatle-y melodies and believably kid-like voices and themes. "Crazy Car," a dazed-sounding song, and one of this disc's strongest, steers straight at 8-year-olds, never minding whether it picks up any parent-age passengers (a la the Partridges) along the way. Ultimately, that's the draw--The Naked Brothers Band, the show, falls into the mock-reality category, but its depiction of a couple of kids who've hit the big time and can't quite get a grip keeps it real. The music, not too polished and not too serious, is true to form. If Nat and Alex keep collecting fans the way David Cassidy did before them, "If That's Not Love" could be the new "C'mon, Get Happy," "Beautiful Eyes" the new "I Think I Love You." --Tammy La Gorce |
