Best kids’ band in NYC

Winner The Dirty Sock Funtime Band
In a kids-music world that’s all about understated cool, an eight-member rock group with its own corps of dancers in crazy wigs could be considered over the top. And that’s exactly the idea behind the Dirty Sock Funtime Band. “We wanted to be as flashy as we could,” says guitarist Stephen Jacobs, “so kids have the experience of a real rock & roll show.” Apparently, Nickelodeon approved: Last fall, the band was snatched up for sister network Noggin’s Jack’s Big Music Show, turning the fledgling act (the group’s been playing around town for two years now) into something of a national phenomenon. What’s next for the Socks? Says guitarist Mike Messer, “We’re going to colonize the moon.”
dirtysockfuntimeband.com

Runner-up AudraRox
After six years of teaching Music for Aardvarks (NYC’s homegrown answer to Music Together), groovy Billyburg mama Audra Tsanos has developed quite a fan club. Now, the singer’s devotees turn out to hear her lead her own kid-rock band, which features a woman-dominated lineup of musician-parents and an approach to children’s music that blends punky energy with PB&J homeyness.
audrarox.com

And don’t forget...John Carlin
A relative newcomer on the kids’ scene (but an old-timer on the downtown club circuit), Carlin has been gathering steam since he released his first children’s CD in 2004. Keep an ear open for his live shows, which he often kicks off with his version of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
johncarlinmusic.com