Eric Herman & the Puppy Dogs

Magic Beans Eric Herman & the Puppy Dogs

Eric Herman's ninth album of kids/family music brings psychedelic art rock to songs that can speak to 7 year-olds as well as their Beatles and Radiohead loving parents. Magic Beans deftly bridges the mystical with the comedic, resonating with creative arrangements, catchy hooks, and sublime musicianship. Best known for his music videos, which have over 100 million views, Herman's is a unique voice in the kids' music (aka "kindie") genre; influenced as much by Zappa and Sondheim as Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street. "I was an odd kid," says Herman. "I might be having a burping contest one minute and listening intently to Beethoven the next." Magic Beans represents that duality of character, where in one song, Herman's inner child is delving into naughtiness ("Googly Eyes," "Stinker," "Really Asleep"), but on the next is pondering existential wonder ("Merry Go Round," "Side Scroller," "Magic Beans"). Herman has also been adept at handling difficult subjects with artful nuance, previously covering subjects like the death of a parent, bigotry, addiction, and even religious sex abuse. On Magic Beans' epic story song, "Mushroom Pizza," Herman uses his hatred of the titular food as a pointed jab at intolerance. A grandmother with dementia is the subject of the bittersweet anthem, "Remember." He even confronts the inevitability of death on the cartoonishly dark "Clocks and Watches," evoking flavors of Pink Floyd, Bowie, and Willy Wonka. But as heavy as the subjects can sometimes get, they are always delivered in a colorful confection of sound, with each song it's own world of musical imagery. Herman notes, "This album really felt like painting pictures with sounds and words and arrangements. Like molding a piece of pottery on the spinning wheel." And thereby he created a work of musical art; speaking profoundly to all ages about our mortality, our shortcomings, and the beans and magic of our lives.