Koo Koo Kanga Roo once spent the night in my basement apartment. Contrary to popular belief, we didn’t play laser tag, overdose on orange soda, or assemble the couch cushions into a fort.

When I found them downstairs after returning from class one night, they were soberly composing songs—headphones on, a keyboard within striking distance, analyzing a synthesizer riff. The costumes were on hangers, the gold-emblazoned tennis shoes and choreographed dance steps were tucked away in knapsacks.

Take a tour of their comic-book website, hit up one of their shows (occasionally accompanied by a cake-eating contest), or listen to one of their songs about playing lava tag or saying their favorite alphabet letters, and you may get a different idea about the daffy rap duo’s diligence. For starters, the disclaimer that the band is “Beastie Boys Meets Raffi” may in fact be shooting a little highbrow: I would wager they’re more that guy who wrote the music to the Crossfire commercial guest-DJing for The Wiggles.

But here’s the catch: without you knowing it, Koo Koo Kanga Roo is amassing a quiet, all-ages empire.

Earlier this spring they toured the eastern seaboard with The Aquabats, and they’re back on the road this fall. Saturday night, at the 7th Street Entry, Koo Koo will mark their release of debut album, Animal Death and Other Danceable Favorites, and their growing online megachurch (they had more Facebook friends than Solid Gold at last check) is converting the high school and college masses—one DJ/dance set at a time.

It could be easy to turn supercilious glances toward a grown-ass dude in a video rapping about jumping jacks while children hop around him in oversized “Koo” T-shirts. But, the un-ignorable fact is that Koo Koo’s pop-and-chip-and-parent-party anthems coupled with white person-friendly dance steps and spastic live shows capture a huge segment of the population that think—strangely enough—that music should be fun, sweat-inducing, and experiential.

At the risk of overstating my case, Koo Koo is quite possibly the most creative, agile, and savviest rap duo in the illustrious Twin Cities Hip Hop Scene. And, frankly, Koo Koo will likely still be playing 3/4s full clubs across the Upper Midwest long after you and I are done debating the merits of this claim.

The songs on the album (free on their website) are mostly functional.  “AOA,” a sing-a-long that teaches itself, spins a chewy synthesizer hook and head-slapping references to “Connect Four” and “Kawasaki.” Another cut, “Lava Tag,” a Dave Ryan Show-esque tubthumper manages to rhyme “no tags-back rule” and “vocoder.” But, as you find out at a Koo Koo show, lyrics and melody take a backseat to the no-rules house party. These boys are throwback entertainers—like Kiss, who sees the music as just a fraction of why people are paying for tickets.

When Koo Koo plays the Entry Saturday night, the band will adorn matching Saturday-morning sweatpants outfits, dance in lock-steps left off *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached Tour, and quite possibly host a cake-eating contest midway through their set.

Koo Koo’s fans may find it idiotic that someone would need to explain why you should like Koo Koo. And, even Neil and Bryan would tell you they’re not for everyone. But it’s really refreshing to see a musical duo who sees itself as entertainment—a concept that cuts through the self-consciousness of indie music and reaffirms the simple notion that bands should be fun. And sometimes that means a song about rollin’ in your mom’s minivan.

“Rollin’ in a Minivan” Koo Koo Kanga Roo

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posted July 23rd, 2010 at 5:28 pm Music News 7th Street Entry, Koo Koo Kangaroo, The Aquabats