The Wiggles, an Australian children’s entertainment group, are often regarded as a novelty act, though their new country-influenced album, “Wiggle Up, Giddy Up!” is pretty legit. Including the prestigious Dolly Parton, the Wiggles mean business, but at the end of the day, they’re still a children’s group that doesn’t always appeal to a more adult audience that used to watch or listen to them. Even with their uplifting documentary on Prime Video in 2023, the Wiggles are in their own lane, so what does the Life section think of this new record?
Ayyan Tamjeed, Campus Correspondent (he/him/his):
I have no words.
Aussie supergroup The Wiggles returned with their 63rd studio album, and their take on country music. They have a star-studded supporting cast featuring Dolly Parton, Orville Peck, Simon Wiggle’s three-year-old son Asher and more. When with a country star, the Wiggles certainly enter the country-scape with their songs.
A standout feature is probably “Say the Dance, Boots ‘N All” featuring Kaylee Bell. She has a brilliant voice, and I love how she sings the chorus, making each repetition of the line “Can you do the [Dance]” sound distinctly different. Don’t sleep on Dolly Parton’s singing on “Friends.” I’ll admit that even though barely have much experience listening to country music, hearing “Friends” made me think “Yeah, this is country.”
But on the Wiggles-only songs, the album does lose steam for me. That preeminent guitar sound is there, but I feel like the Wiggles don’t make any efforts to encompass the country sound fully. They still sing as if it is a regular kid’s song, only with some country guitar attached. Or maybe I just don’t know any other indicators of country music apart from that. They do encompass country imagery in their lyrics, one example being “Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Ute,” a parody of another famous Wiggles song, replacing “car” with “ute.” It’s a lovely song.
Overall, it’s a decent country album that manages to mesh the Wiggles’ brand with country imagery and it may or may not make me listen to more country music.
Rating 2.5/5
Noa Climor, Social Media Outreach Coordinator (she/her/hers):
Goodness me, what an exquisite concept.
The Wiggles have done something genuinely fascinating, and too all the wiggle haters in the crowd, have you no heart? Have you no spirit?
I admit, country is not my favorite genre, but the Wiggles pose the interesting question: what if country was executed by The Wiggles and their friends?
The opening track, “Wiggle Up, Giddy Up!” was filled with hype and an energetic country beat. I think “Friends” which featured Dolly Parton was the best song on the album, but mostly because it has the one and only Parton as a feature.
“When times are hard, we can make it fun” thanks Dolly! I do think there was a mild lack of whimsy in some of the songs, but they made up for it with a unique collection of some of the most peculiar country music I have had the pleasure of listening to.
Rating: 2.5/5
Maleena Muzio, Staff Writer (she/her/hers):
To be honest, I was very intrigued by the idea of The Wiggles producing a country album. However, I am a little confused as to who the target audience of this album is. I know The Wiggles are aimed at kids, but I think with songs, such as “Counting 1 to 5,” and a Dolly Parton feature, they may have been trying to reach middle-aged moms. The album is a painful 32 songs long and runs for an hour and 13 minutes, once again convincing me that this album was not aimed at today’s short attention-spanned “iPad kids.”
I do think The Wiggles did somehow manage to capture country music’s roots well and portray a more traditional sound. A majority of the album sounds like the old Canadian folk records my grandparents used to play.
In all seriousness, “Love is Like a Butterfly” is kind of beautiful. Would I ever listen to it again? Probably not. But was it a cute song? Of course! It is definitely no Lana Del Rey’s, “Happiness is a butterfly,” though, so keep your expectations low.
Rating: 2/5 (I’m so sorry kids)
Sebastian Munera, Campus Correspondent (he/him/his):
The Wiggles’ new release “Wiggle Up, Giddy Up – with Friends!” (not to be confused with “Wiggle Up, Giddy Up”) marks their sixty-third studio album in 34 years! Now, to be honest, I haven’t digested The Wiggles’ catalogue deeply in sixteen years since I saw them perform live. I’m also someone who is admittedly under exposed to country music for somebody who listens to music all day, so who better than The Wiggles to introduce the youth to country artists of the past and present?
Dolly Parton plays the role of the anchor on the project being on both the opening and closing songs “Friends!” “We Will Always be Friends,” both really well produced and sung songs about the value of companionship.
The song “It’s Tough Being Three Years Old” is a really touching and cool concept for a song. It’s introduced by a spoken segment explaining that they tried to put into lyrics what toddlers mean when they say a bunch of random words and a chorus with backing vocals by the singer’s children.
The last song “Love Is Like a Butterfly” is a genuinely beautifully written song that is not even tuned down to make the lyrics more appealing to kids. It’s built around metaphors for love and soft instrumentation.
Rating: 3/5