THE WIGGLES - Rewiggled
New Recruits Deliver the Goods
Written by: Tom Wilson – Sense Music Media | Friday 04 March 2022
Released in 2011, Rewiggled was an album of songs by children’s music titans THE WIGGLES, covered by a who’s-who of Australian music talent. From FRENZAL RHOMB’s berserk version of Captain’s Magic Buttons to JEBEDIAH’s hard-hitting Getting Strong and a rendition of Hot Potato by THE LIVING END that was so good, you almost wish they’d do the entire album, Rewiggled wound up at #25 on the ARIA Chart. Now, buoyed by the success of their Hottest 100 victory for their cover of TAME IMPALA’s Elephant, the newly expanded skivvy brigade has come out with another instalment of Rewiggled, handing over their most prized tracks to a new generation of Australian artists.
The Review
Hot Potato has been tossed from THE LIVING END to DZ DEATHRAYS, who have traded rockabilly for slower, fuzzed-out garage rock. An ode to the world’s least-threatening dinosaur, SPACEY JANE stretch out D.O.R.O.T.H.Y. (My Favourite Dinosaur) into a chilled-out croon. The peaceful vibe continues with SAN CISCO’s dreamy H.O.L.I.D.A.Y., as acoustic guitar and keys conjure up winding roads and sunsets. POLISH CLUB start Apples and Bananas with the handbrake firmly applied, before the tempo begins to incrementally pick up pace, like a billycart racing down a hillside and hitting every bump on the way down. LUCA BRASI keep the momentum with a head-nodding rendition of The Shimmie Shake, before THE MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA knock out a version of We’re All Fruit Salad that almost makes me forget I don’t like ska. As with the original Rewiggled, they have employed a broad pallet of different talents, and they all work, because at the end of the day, THE WIGGLES are really, really good at writing songs. STELLA DONNELLY’s Ba Ba Da Bicycle Ride is a saccharine-sweet ray of blissful sunshine, and since I appear to be on a real run with the weather metaphors right now, EMILY WURRAMARA’s Dressing Up is as soothing as rain on a tin roof. EMMA DONOVAN AND THE PUTBACKS pick the pace up with Say the Dance…, before CUSTARD turn the fuzzy guitars up to 11 for Do the Propeller! THE CHATS keep the tempo going with a rollicking Can You (Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist), before DONNY BENET slows things right back down with a pulsing 80s vibe for Sicily, and just in case that was still too fast, DANI IM turns Big Red Car into a blissed-out meditation of drum machine and soothing vocal hooks.
Interestingly, this is a double album, and on disc two, the current crop of WIGGLES have tackled some of their favourite tracks, delivering their own versions of songs that have been significant for them. Opening strong with Elephant, they plunge into THE CHATS’ Pub Feed, with Anthony Field’s unmistakable voice singing the praises of chicken parmigiana. Lachlan Gillespie gives a honey-voiced melody to FATBOY SLIM’s Praise You, and Captain Feathersword himself, Paul Paddick, gives one of the best performances on the album on a storming cover of Shipping Up to Boston by THE DROPKICK MURPHYS. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve probably never heard a version of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck quite like this one, with Lachy opting for a smoother, significantly less screamy version of Brian Johnson’s vocals. RHIANNA’s Umbrella gets a stellar vocal bassline from Simon Pryce, and you might want to prepare yourself for surprise vocalist towards the end. Covering QUEEN is usually a pretty bad idea, because it’s very easy to make yourself look silly, but somehow Simon manages to pull off a baritone version of Bohemian Rhapsody (notably humming the un-Wiggly bit about shooting people). If you can make it to the end without smiling, you’re dead inside.
The Verdict
I don’t think I’m out of line when I say that the OG WIGGLES lineup wouldn’t have had this much success in doing an album of covers by themselves (though Greg doing QUEEN would have been awesome). With an expanded roster of new faces, the skivvy brigade has brought a diverse array of talent to the table, and the results speak for themselves. Anyone would think they know what they’re doing.
8.5/10
Rewiggled is out March 11th.
THE WIGGLES L-R: Emma Watkins, Tsehay Hawkins, Anthony Field, John Pearce, Simon Pryce, Kelly Hamilton, Lachlan Gillespie + Evie Ferris