Pitchfork

It's hard to keep up with the kids these days. They're getting so...old. Finding a job and having a mewling child or two used to mean saying goodbye to the days of obsessive-compulsive music snobbery. Now the internet cuts out the conventional legwork and here's a clever compilation of kiddie pop for aging indie-yuppies, with more reportedly on the way.

Yes, folks, See You on the Moon!: Song for Kids of All Ages leaves Raffi in the deep blue sea and lets Kidz Bop float on, all right, already. It's definitely better than the old For Our Children disc-- featuring Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Debbie Gibson-- I remember hearing once or twice in the parental Toyota Previa. But as that effort showed, merely hiring A-list talent (and Debbie Gibson) doesn't guarantee success when trying to rock the cradle. Paper Bag's compilation enlists some Pitchfork darlings-- most notably Broken Social Scene and Sufjan Stevens-- and a few lesser-knowns for a brilliant marketing gambit that actually turns out not to suck.

The best entries on See You on the Moon! are steeped with a sense of practical-minded wonderment. Great Lake Swimmers' "See You on the Moon" runs eagerly through a list of possible careers, indulging a child's attention to detail ("I'll drive my tractor in the sun/ While the chickens go bawk, bawk, bawk/ and the cows go moo, moo, moo"), while catchy acoustic guitars ring, ring, ring. "Be Nice to People With Lice", Low's Alan Sparhawk's solo acoustic opener, similarly features an easy sing-along melody and adult-friendly one-liners (cf. the title), but it's marred by the sounds of grown-up laughter and "best-song-ever" half-sarcasm. Lice are deadly serious, dudes. Parents just don't understand.

Broken Social Scene's spacey, subtly psychedelic "Puff the Magic Dragon" cover is a cause for Honah-Lee frolicking. Meanwhile, Sufjan Stevens does his usual Jesus thing (but seriously, stop asking him about it, you vultures), turning in a toy-orchestra take on French carol "The Friendly Beasts"-- also featured on his Christmas album triad. Mark Kozelek's "Leo and Luna" is a slow, Red House Painters-like lullaby that also makes for a nice two-minute subway oasis, but Hot Chip's uncharacteristically boring "I Can't Wake Up" forgets that kids have awesome bullshit detectors. And heck, FemBots' growly Waits/Beefheart polka on "Under the Bed" gives me nightmares.

As with any children's compilation, See You on the Moon! has a few tracks parents will want to skip. The kids' shouty chanting on space-age double-dutch "24 Robbers", by BSS member Apostle of Hustle, is cute but gets old even faster than children do-- try the Go! Team instead. Kid Koala's "Fruit Bat", featuring Lederhosen Lucil, gets nicely cartoon-like, but be warned I'll step on any toddler I hear repeating its chorus of "I 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ate you".

Montag's three brief instrumentals, though, are soothing, culminating in the glistening "Bonne Nuit Etienne". Rosie Thomas' lovely, dream-like "Faith's Silver Elephant" is a real children's song, tucking an achingly sung story of a girl and her magical mammal pals into a bed of softest down. It also evokes the weird, unspoken fantasy behind buying an indie kid's-music comp in this age of ubiquitous over-parenting: "Wait and see/ I'll be the coolest kid around."