Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer: Scat Like That: A Musical Word Odyssey

1 October 2005 | Time Out New York Kids

By Jem Aswad

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the latest album from this Grammy-winning, phenomenally talented duo is how well they pull of their difficult mission: to twist and play with language on a dozen-plus tracks representing drastically different musical styles, including country, folk, polka, Latin and even a sea chantey. The pair's singing and musicianship are flawless throughout, and the lyrics to the songs are funny, incisive and rarely cloying: Tongue twisters, pirate impersonations, a Spanish lesson, limericks, pig latin, an argument, acceptable expletives ("Dagnabbit!") and even the all-letter-and-number "IM4U" (from "The Jack Paar Show," of all places) get an airing in this clever and eminently listenable LP. Fink and Marxer overuse the children's chorus (the soundtrack to this reviewer's vision of hell) on several songs, but that's a minor complaint about an album with so much to offer. Scat Like That is one of the best kids' albums you'll hear anywhere.