Pegleg Tango

Pirate-themed kids' discs have been done before, and they generally fall into the same musical black hole that swallows up other such single-minded projects (think railroad yard music for 4-year-old train buffs, monster records and the occasional daring clown-themed disc). Pegleg Tango makes itself the exception--the treasure chest at the end of a rough voyage--and here's why: Captain Bogg, First Mate McGraw, Charlie Scuppers, and the eye-patch-wearing, plundering brigade of others who populate this disc seem to have been actual pirates before they were kids' artists. "Pieces of 8ight" is served up with enough salt to sink an iceberg, and "What it's Really Like on a Ship" invites scallywags of all ages aboard for a scurvy-skirting adventure. Some surf music washes up, a little reggae reaches the shore, and the occasional mermaid sighting is celebrated with skull-and-cross-bones-style pop harmonizing (imagine a cast of Broadway crooners cutting up with parrots on their shoulders). Bogg & Salty's crew effectively capture Captain Jack Sparrow's swagger and set it to sound; there's not a musical deck-swabber among them. --Tammy La Gorce