Recess Monkey
Field Trip
Fifteen catchy songs about real and imaginary field trips from this award winning band of elementary school teachers.
“These guys churn out albums faster than Tom Clancy pumps out technothrillers—yet the quality never wanes. Playful, singable, and never the least bit derivative, Recess Monkey is a boon to children's music.” – COOKIE magazine
“This Seattle band is composed of three elementary-school teachers who have a bit of a Beatles fixation. And the CD sounds as if the Fab Four or the Kinks had recorded tracks about birthday parties, pets, and monsters under the bed. The topics on this disc are child-focused, but the music will definitely hook parents, too.” – REAL SIMPLE
“Over the course of four albums, Recess Monkey has slowly staked its claim to being the best kids’ music band in the business.” –Stefan Shepherd, Zooglobble
All of the songs on Field Trip were inspired by field trips we’ve taken with our classes. The album is part Magical Mystery Tour, part Mr. Rogers, and part Muppet Show, but it’s all based on the kids that we teach and our memories of being young. We recorded the songs during weekends and holiday vacations from school this past winter in the music room at the school where we all met and where two of us still teach – tapping into the energy that fills our classrooms and those halls every day. Recording this album felt as though, after being at sea for a year teaching and playing shows, we had briefly come back into port to share some of the things that we'd heard!
Field Trip starts where Tabby Road left off, putting a wacky, fantastical edge on the "everyday lives of kids.” The world of Recess Monkey continues to expand in this album, with a whole new cast of characters: sack lunches that come to life while their owners explore new territory, a brigade of lice that invades a classroom (something the members of Recess Monkey have all encountered as teachers), and even an octopus with a penchant for "knock-knock” jokes.
Field Trip’s music leads off with “Fort,” an up-tempo celebration of the fact that a magical trip is never very far away. With that, the adventures, big and small, begin in earnest (no permission slip needed). There are misty marshmallow fields to explore, a chance to hide away on pirate ship, the adventure of getting lost at a bubble factory, and the long, winding road to the nurse’s refrigerator for an ice pack – made much easier when you're with a good friend. Field Trip is like a sack lunch when you're far from home. Open it up and be greeted with something familiar and comforting: another batch of expertly produced sing-alongs from those Beatles-lovin', shenanigan songsters, Recess Monkey. There's a giant brownie of sugary pop inside but the whole thing is very new-tritious!
Moods: Mood: Funny