These guys sound like Daniel Powter on helium with their version of “Bad Day,” an attempt to help someone beat the blues. A line on “Get You Goin'” rejects flashy material things. “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” is a new version of the 1958 classic promoting holiday cheer. Starry-eyed vermin put a spin on the Platters love song “Only You (And You Alone).”
Several cuts feature rodents with hip-hop attitude. They claim to come from the ‘hood (“Mess Around”); flaunt their cash, cars and bling (“How We Roll”); and have breathless women saying how “hot, hot” they are (“Ain’t No Party”). “Get Munk’d” and “Come Get It” brag about the furry fellas’ popularity with the ladies, presumably as party animals, though they use a few expressions that can also have a sexual connotation (“I’ll keep you goin’ all night,” “[Boys] all want one thing,” “Give me some of your honey love,” “Give me what I want … girl get freaky”). While tongue-in-cheek, another Chipmunk novelty classic finds the trio consulting “The Witch Doctor.”
There’s nothing deeply problematic here for mature listeners, but the primary target is families with young children. Do kids really need cute animated characters selling them a worldly hip-hop ethos?
