Rewiggled Party feat. Dead Letter Chorus

I went along to the Rewiggled party with a healthy dose of skepticism tucked firmly into my pocket. I mean, it’s a Wiggles cover album – those songs were cool when I was in diapers, but there’s no way they can transcend genre boundaries (as well as a couple of decades) – and the live performance wasn’t going to be any better. Boo to me, it turns out. Dead Letter Chorus pulled out one hell of a cover, and delivered their own track Run Wild with their usual style – and the album, well shit. It’s fantastic.

Rewiggled has only just gone into final production, but the gentlemen and women at the ABC were kind enough to provide a preview CD, and I can assure you, it’s damn delightful. At points it’s bittersweet – listening to your reimagined childhood is an odd experience – but one full of grins and these ridiculously warm moments. It jumps across all kinds of musical boundaries – rolling folk from Dead Letter Chorus, hard-style rawk from Frenzal Rhomb, softly spoken awesome from Oh Mercy and almost heart-breaking stillness from Paul Greene (among so many others) – and really captures the heart of The Wiggles, as well as showcasing some of Australias best music.

I really can’t wait for you all to listen to this, ‘coz it’s one hell of an experience. To say that The Wiggles have had an impact on Australian culture is a massive understatement – and Rewiggled truly does them justice. Stay tuned for more of this goodness – or head along to the ABC store and get your pre-order on. There’s also a Facebook page, where you can check out a few previews, and revel (wriggle?) in the musicy goodness. You can pick it up on November 4.

Oh, and check out Dead Letter Chorus. They’re real good. By the way, that guy at the top – that’s Murray. He’s a Wiggle.