"Take a Trip in The Time Machine with The Sippy Cups!"

About.com

By Warren Truitt

"The Sippy Cups deliver another great album of psychedelic rock and roll for kids and their families."

The Artists

The Sippy Cups are a Bay-Area kids band made up of musicians and performers from various indie-rock outfits like The Loud Family, Thin White Rope, and The Squids. Regular members include singer/keyboardist Paul Godwin, singer/keyboardist Alison Faith Levy, juggler/unicyclist Doug Nolan, drummer Jozef Becker, and singer/guitarist Rudy Trubitt, who also produced The Time Machine, along with new bassist Ariane Cap.

The Music

The Time Machine is a concept album of sorts, but not about the time machines that immediately come to mind. No, The Time Machine is about us, kids, parents and families, as we get older, stronger, and hopefully, wiser. Songs like "My Loose Tooth," "One Day Soon," and "My Angry Voice" take on subjects like a kid's growing self-confidence, taking pride in personal achievements, and getting a handle on self-control.

The Polyphonic Spree-like "Starry Morning" cosmically kicks off the album, while "Look On Up," a rockin' tune about the oneness of everything, would fit right in the new version of Hair, and the title track sounds like something Phish might play if they made a kids' album. See the drift? The Sippy Cups pulled together influences from Syd Barrett and Jimi Hendrix to current psychedelic rockers like The Flaming Lips, making an album for their fans who have passed from kindergarten to elementary school.

The Time Machine is rounded out by the mind-bending math lesson of the poppy leadoff single "Seven is the New 14," the freeze dance track "Don't Remove the Groove," the very White Album-sounding "Daddy's Lucky Charm," and the slow-burning epic "Awake."

The Verdict

The Sippy Cups' brand of cosmic rock and roll has to be seen to be believed: The Time Machine is good, but you absolutely have to experience The Sippy Cups live to truly "get" what they're all about. Not quite as superb as 2006's Electric Storyland, The Time Machine is still a great album for kids and their families who like rockin', retro, reflective, and fun music.