On-stage,
Keller Williams comes across like a big goofy child, flailing around in circles and punctuating his songs with slightly disjointed monologues that seem to come straight from his slightly bewildered id. When he plays his guitar, you realize it's all an act designed to set you up for his jaw-dropping technical ability on the acoustic guitar, bass, and faux trumpet. His lyrics tend to look at life through lysergic colored glasses, or maybe he's just so in touch with his inner child that he can't help himself. His big-hearted wit is perfectly suited to the songs on
Kids, a record that will entertain children of all ages without talking down to them. They may not appreciate his guitar prowess, but there's enough of that in evidence to keep parents interested as well. As on his adult albums,
Williams is all over the map. "My Neighbor Is Happy Again" is a silly bluegrass song about a man who uses goats to mow his lawn, "Because I Said So" sets the words that all children dread hearing -- "You can't have an alligator, tractor, giraffe or hippopotamus, cause I said so" -- to a simple catchy folk melody, the percussion-heavy "Hulahoop to Da Loop" is an African-flavored jump rope song with a playful, irresistible groove, and "Mama Tooted" is a reggae/samba about farting, which is sure to especially appeal to six year olds. The album closes with "The Fastest Song in the World," a one-note, one-joke exercise that probably won't be funny to anyone, except maybe three year olds, but it fits in perfectly with the rest of the silly songs on the record.