The Sippy Cups preview

The Sippy Cups
Lollapalooza, Chicago
Friday, August 3, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007

When I was a youngster I remember stretching my Walkman headphones over my sister’s swollen, pregnant stomach hoping the Megadeth (Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying) coming from those cans would help make my future niece a lifelong music lover.

The good news, I guess, is my niece does listen to a lot of music — every year I get her CDs for Christmas. The bad news is it tends to be Jessica Simpson and Faith Hill. Maybe had The Sippy Cups been around back when my niece still called the womb home, my efforts would have produced better results. Plenty of music-loving parents are skeptical about kids’ music, and with good reason: It tends to be annoying and crappy. Listen up, though, Mom and Dad. Here is all you need to know about the San Francisco-based The Sippy Cups, who play two days at Lollapalooza’s Kidz stage: They formed when three members jammed on Pink Floyd’s “Bike” at a community fundraiser. If that isn’t enough, consider their first record, Give Peas A Chance, featured kid-friendly takes on tunes by the likes of Velvet Underground, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones and their new record, Electric Storyland, is a play on Hendrix’s psychedelic classic Electric Ladyland.

Yeah, you’ll like it; it’s real-life rock ‘n’ roll. Oh, and the kids will dig it too, we assume. Lots of big hooks, catchy melodies, and story subjects like superheroes, robots, dogs, and even a lesson-teaching track about talking instead of fighting (“Use Your Words”). Though we do wonder what Mom spreads on the bread in “Magic Toast,” where she tells sonny boy she’s got a breakfast for him that “will make the day seem sunny even when the sky is full of clouds/something that will make it all seem funny/and every tiny sound seem really loud.” Mother knows best, though, right?

The Sippy Cups play from 1:30 to 2:00 Friday afternoon and 1:15 to 1:45 Saturday. Children 10-years old and younger are admitted free to Lollapalooza if accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

— Trevor Fisher

Click here to download a video of The Sippy Cups performing “Low Rider.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly