Chicago-based children's act Wee Hairy Beasties consist of Mekons members Jon Langford (billed as "Cyril the Karaoke Squirrel") and Sally Timms ("Monkey Double Dippey"), singer/songwriter Kelly Hogan ("Marjorie the Singing Bee"), and the acoustic blues trio Devil in a Woodpile (Rick "Cookin'" Sherry, Joel Paterson, and Tom Ray). According to legend (aka, their press release), they showed up for their first gig at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago under the impression that they would be playing for the animals and had therefore written songs about animals. As it happened, children and parents were also in attendance and seemed to appreciate the music as well. This led Bloodshot Records to commission an album, Animal Crackers, released October 24, 2006. ~ William Ruhlmann