Gobsmacked – Haaah-gis & Ghoul-ash

Gobsmacked – Haah-gis & Ghoul-ash
by Chris Spencer

Gobsmacked is a duo consisting of Bertie McMahon & Louis Hamers who perform songs aimed at children and those young at heart.
There’s plenty of word plays, bemusing ditties and clever rhyming.
The album starts off with the jaunty “The Bewitching Hour”.
Unlike some other children’s albums, the tracks are not short, with some of the presentations clocking in at over 5 minutes.
In fact, “Mester Stoorworm” is a tad over 9 minutes.
The liner notes tell us that “Mr Sausage Nose” is based on a Hungarian folk tale while “Silkie” and “Mester Stoorworm” are based on Scottish folk stories.
Yes these long tracks are yarns and stories rather than songs.
Each has plenty of sound effects and little asides to add amusement to the basic story.
How would you feel if your mother was a seal? “Silkie” investigates this possibility – more of a yarn with lots of sound effects.
“The School that Never Ends” could be anyone’s nightmare – locked in a classroom that is boring only after a few minutes.
Other tracks make use of the absurd – such as “The Dog Chased the Car”.
“Holiday” uses all the favourites about travelling with kids.
“Four Minus Three” is written in the format of a folk song, complete with violin and in the Scottish folk song, “Mester Stoorworm” has the obligatory bagpipes.
To their credit McMahon and Hamers have written all the songs themselves and it’s well produced with lots of sounds and musical accompaniment, that never dominates the words.
While this album is squarely aimed at children, there is enough diversity in the music styles to keep parents amused for ..
well… 2 or 3 repeated listenings!

About the artist: Gobsmacked present their own blend of folktale, song, and crazy action. There are many adventures and diversions along the way. There’s lots of audience participation too if you’re brave enough.