Bang Bang Boom Cake - Tiny Masters of Today Album Review
Tiny Masters of Today
Album Review
Within the space of two tracks, the final line of this review had written itself. See if you can spot it coming.
For those unfamiliar with these young musicians (please note the self-restraint required to avoid the appellation 'pint-size punksters'), Tiny Masters of Today are Ivan and Ada, thirteen and eleven, from Brooklyn. This album features material from their first EPs as well as new songs but, reading between the lines of the case notes, can't truthfully be described as entirely their own work. Certainly the drumming of Russell Simins (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) adds a reassuringly solid layer of professional musicianship. When let loose with production however, he is less convincing, adding samples and effects to the lo-fi guitar churnings that often seem bizarrely out of place.
The album takes a great deal of influence from the Moldy Peaches and White Stripes, with blues-fuzz stomping that unfortunately lacks the ingenious eccentricity of either. The tracks presented sound like songs that precociously cool Brooklyn children would write, and by those standards they are reasonable efforts but they can't compare when judged against their older genremates.
The press release describes tracks on the album as 'president baiting', and whilst 'all my friends and I agree you're the worst president Bush-ee' is technically baiting, I can't imagine even the current incumbent losing sleep over playground rhymes. The rapping courtesy of Kimya Dawson on Trendsetter offers the only glimpse of exciting lyrics with a convincing rant against conformity, but the remainder of the album is cluttered with clichéd anti-authority themes. There is something fundamentally unconvincing about eleven year olds "stickin' it to the man" or railing at "corporations".
Hologram World is by far the standout track, dropping the prepubescent politics in favor of exuberant rock-pop that indicates real potential in the pair. For the time being Ivan and Ada are Tiny Master of Today in name only. With a dose of originality or simply something to say they might possibly become Medium Masters of Tomorrow.