Pomplamoose is a YouTube band with millions of views comprised of the incredibly talented musicians Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte. They just released their new album Pomplamoose Season 2 this week, and to celebrate I thought I’d share some of their best videos as ranked by The Mary Sue’s newest music critic, my one-year-old daughter Amelia.
I was watching Pomplamoose videos a few months ago and they caught my daughter’s attention. She’s too young for me to ask what it is about the videos she likes, but if I had to guess I’d say it’s a combination of the wonderful music and typically fast-paced, bright, fun visuals that accompany it. She also seems to find Jack particularly interesting. She likes to point and shout his name when he pops up on screen. Particularly when he’s making a funny face which happens often.
Amelia lets you know she would like to watch a Pomplamoose video by pointing at the TV and saying “Pomp! Pomp! Pomp!” until you comply. Once you bring the YouTube menu up she nods or shakes her head to let you know if you’ve picked the one she wants to watch. She has very clear preferences for these videos, so here are her favorites based on how often she makes me play them and how bananas she goes when they’re on.
#6 Mrs. Robinson
Amelia seems to have a pretty clear preference for Pomplamoose’s cover songs over their originals, but considering she’s one year old I don’t think it’s familiarity with the source material that’s doing it—except maybe this one. I listen to a fair amount of Simon & Garfunkel so it’s possible she’s into this one because she knows the song.
I think she also likes the improv game Nataly and Jack play at the end of the song, because it makes her laugh every time.
#5 Beat It
In their earlier videos, Pomplamoose focused on showing every element that went into their recording. If there’s a few notes on a children’s xylophone, you see that xylophone. It’s a lot of fun to see, even if you’re a baby apparently.
Oh, and to the point I made about Amelia possibly being familiar with “Mrs. Robinson” there’s also a chance here that she’s familiar with the tune of this song because of Weird Al Yankovic’s “Eat It” which is in pretty heavy rotation as well.
#4 September
This Earth, Wind & Fire song is a favorite of wedding DJs and discerning babies alike. The Pomplamoose cover is a pretty faithful one, but I’m not sure my daughter’s ever heard Earth, Wind & Fire before. I think the reasons she likes this one so much are the use of the puppet on the bass drum and the cameo by Jack’s dancing grandmother.
#3 Mister Sandman
This song was originally recorded by The Chordettes, and to match the original group style of the song Nataly layered her vocals multiple times. It works really well, and the corresponding visual element of multiple faces on the screen at once is apparently very appealing to babies.
#2 Somewhere Over the Rainbow
You can’t argue that this is a beautiful song to begin with, (You could, but you’d be wrong) and Nataly sings the hell out of it. Through the band’s Patreon page they were also able to hire a four-piece string section to accompany them. The video is really simple, so I think it’s the audio entirely that’s selling Amelia on this one. She’s not wrong. It’s a really moving version.
#1 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
It’s no contest. Their cover of Wham!’s classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is the top of the list by a long shot. It’s the first one Amelia asks for, and it always leads to a full-on dance party. It has the power to stop tantrums.
Pomplamoose took a catchy song and managed to make it catchier. There are bright colors, wigs, and fun dancing—pretty much everything a baby could want in a music video.
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So there you have it, folks. The top six videos by Pomplamoose as ranked by a baby. If you liked any of these be sure to check out their YouTube page. They have dozens of videos up of covers, originals, and mashups. Lately they’ve been making some really interesting videos by mapping video elements onto elaborately constructed white backgrounds with a projector. They’re fascinating to watch, but for some reason Amelia isn’t as into them as I am so I couldn’t include any on the list.
Season 2 is out now. You can get it through iTunes or the band’s website. They’ve also kicked off a tour, so if you’d like to see them live check the schedule on their page for when they’ll be in your area.
(via Pomplamoose)
- These are some of the female characters we considered when naming Amelia
- I hope she forgives me for attaching her picture to this story about poop sausage
- Or this one about babies preventing their parents from… making more babies
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