Astrograss generated a deserved buzz amongst Brooklyn parents a few years back, with kid-centric daytime bluegrass gigs in venues where alcohol was available for purchase. You can sense the jacked-up enjoyment of the unbridled child chorus freaking their way through the call and response of "Hurk," one of six Shel Silverstein poems set to original music by the quartet's winsome lead vocalist/guitarist, Jordan Shapiro. Although the poems are gorgeously arranged with traditional instruments, they seem to lose much of their humor in translation, coming off as just so much more garden-variety pandering to the silly-loving hokey-pokey demographic. Unlike the child chorus, my six-year-old associate stayed on the couch for this one, strangely unmoved by a lyric in which a compulsive eater devours his parents. One suspects that Astrograss is a dish best enjoyed live. — Ayun Halliday
