Rewiggled: A Tribute to the Wiggles

ONCE you get past the initial cognitive dissonance of listening to well-known Australian adult bands cover songs written by coloured skivvy-clad adults for children, there's a lot to like about Rewiggled.

ONCE you get past the initial cognitive dissonance of listening to well-known Australian adult bands cover songs written by coloured skivvy-clad adults for children, there's a lot to like about Rewiggled.

The concept is simple: 20 contemporary artists are given the chance to reinterpret the Wiggles' songs, with consistently interesting results. Some bands sound right at home: Spiderbait's Rock-a-Bye Your Bear is a cute, taut rock number, the Snowdroppers inject a bluesy swagger into Wags the Dog and Adalita's Get Ready to Wiggle is full of hazy, down-strummed chords, true to character.

Megan Washington and her band bring a surf-rock feel to The Monkey Dance, while Architecture in Helsinki's Wiggly Party becomes a neon-tinged, hyperactive dance number (which, admittedly, is one of few tracks here that grates on repeated listens).

The Living End thrashes out Hot Potato with such vigour one suddenly wishes they'd do a whole album of Wiggles covers. While most tracks are upbeat, there are some calmer moments: Sarah Blasko's I Love It When It Rains is an earnest, piano-and-voice affair, Angie Hart's midtempo Our Boat is Rocking on the Sea is drenched in reverb, and under Clare Bowditch's guidance, Georgia's Song becomes elegiac.

The musicianship is so solid -- and the songs so damn catchy -- that Rewiggled could find its way on to the stereo without kids' prompting.

LABEL: ABC Music
RATING: 3-1/2 stars