One of the rarely spoken of joys to be had in raising children is the opportunity to warp them to love what you love. Sure, they'll rebel when they hit adolescence, but once they get over that they'll look back on your loving, benevolent interference with affection.

Certainly the jaunty pop of They Might Be Giants has always held a cartoonish appeal to the little ones but if the brittle likes of 'Lincoln' and 'Factory Showroom' seemed a little dark for the tots then 'No!', their first album aimed at the whole family, fits the bill perfectly. The Wiggles should be shivering in their multi-coloured skivvies at the arrival of 'No!' because it's simply the greatest children's album ever.

There's striking educational songs like In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle and The Edison Museum, but for the most part it's a good set of irresistibly upbeat pop-rock tunes. Kids know a catchy riff when they hear one, just listen to what they sing back to you. John Lee Supertaster is as rockin' a number as the Giants have ever done while the likes of Clap Your Hands and Four Of Two present totally irresistible tunes that will have parents and tykes alike bouncing along. Get set for peals of laughter and squeals of delight.

'No!' also features an interactive component where most songs are accompanied on computer by a cartoon you can play with. Here's where a good idea becomes a brilliant one. Control the giant cyborg in Robot Parade, visit Fibber Island, feed potato chips to the mouse in the woods to prevent it eating the House At The Top Of The Tree or play with the food in your Grocery Bag. Simply put, whether you have children or not, check out 'No!' and see if it's sprightly charm doesn't win you over and have you headed, once more, for a second childhood.

Brett Buttfield

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