Koo Koo Kanga Roo is an American comedic dance-pop duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, consisting of vocalist dancers Bryan Atchison and Neil Olstad.
Billed as an “interactive dance party duo” and described as “the Beastie Boys meet Sesame Street”, Koo Koo Kanga Roo showcase a colorful live show which relies heavily on audience participation, featuring overtly silly sing-along songs which are typically accompanied by their own individual dance moves.
The duo has toured across the USA, performing for both children’s events and at mainstream music clubs with rock and punk bands, and is notable for releasing all of their recorded music under a “pay what you want” price.
Koo Koo Kanga Roo have defined themselves foremost as a live band, with their performances and audience interaction being the pure core of the group, even more so than their recorded music. Bryan and Neil are the only members, and thus perform all of their songs against pre-recorded backing tracks played from their iPods over the venue’s PA system.
The subject matter of Koo Koo Kanga Roo‘s songs rarely stray from juvenile “goofball” territory, covering such topics as dinosaurs, letters of the alphabet, ninjas, food fights, fanny packs, hopscotch, slumber parties and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Despite this, Bryan and Neil hesitate to label themselves as a “kid’s band,” instead referring to Koo Koo Kanga Roo as “a kid’s band for adults” which aims to connect with all ages.
“We shoot for goofy, more than kids’ music specifically“, Neil elaborated. “It’s not about being a kids’ thing, it’s about being a fun thing.“
Neil has also mentioned that Koo Koo Kanga Roo’s songs try to touch on a nostalgia factor for older audiences, drawing on his and Bryan’s memories of childhood; one prominent example includes the duo’s tradition of throwing a playground parachute into the crowd at the end of their sets, the kind “that you remember from PE class in elementary school.”
Koo Koo Kanga Roo – Fanny Pack
And they have a new one just released a couple weeks ago:
Koo Koo Kanga Roo – Believe