Ladybirds - Regional Community Theater (CD)

All Music Guide

A duo to make your teeth ache with delight, The Ladybirds is the brainchild of Gym Class Heroes keyboardist Tyler Pursel and singer Teeter Sperber, bolstered by a quartet of guesting vocalists.

If cupcakes made music, it would probably sound like Regional Community Theater, fluffy and airy with plenty of sugary icing on top, this is toytown electropop, the music a bubbling mix between a kiddie keyboard and a teen's Nintendo, with a bowl of popcorn covered with a whole lot of cheese thrown in for good measure. Think Aqua on a sugar high.

Something so sweet should go down a treat with the tweenie crowd and mini mallrats, but The Ladybirds expand their appeal to an older audience with a sweet tooth as well via their clever lyrics and adult themes.

Many of the songs revolve around relationships, be it the close friendship featured on "Slice Our Hands (We Are Blood Sisters)", the obvious choice for a sure to hit single, to the fractured relationship of "Maxim and the Headphone Life". The evocative titles personal favorite "Oh No The Unicorns Are Knife Fighting Again", often hide the unhappiness at the core of many of the songs, but so upbeat is the music, that inevitably the characters have no choice but to make peace, amends, or go quietly on their way.

Cultural pop references, wry twisting of everyday colloquialisms, the turning inside out of common words and phrases, like the best cartoons, The Ladybirds work on two levels, enchanting the kids whilst simultaneously capturing the imagination of adults. Awash in poppy classics, this regional community theater is obviously ready for Broadway.

- JoAnn Greene, All Music Guide