This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Forget the Partridges. Skip the Osbournes. Meet the real family that plays together — the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.
Dad Jason handles guitar, piano and vocals. Pre-pubescent daughter Rachel drums and croons backup. And mom Tina plays the slide projector. Slide projector? You bet. The Trachtenburgs, you see, have a bizarrely unique act: They buy up old slides at estate sales and write whimsical indie-pop ditties to go with them. Vintage Slide Collections From Seattle, Vol. 1 has some of their best, including the jaunty travelogue Mountain Trip To Japan, 1959, the groovy ovoid ode Eggs and a six-part rock-opera based on a McDonald’s marketing meeting (“Let’s not have the same weight in 1978 … Let’s have mo-orrre!”). Admittedly, the disc — even though it includes a couple of slide shows on the multi-media portion — doesn’t do justice to the trio’s hilarious live act. But just based on sheer charm and originality, it’s enough to crown them the coolest clan in rock ’n’ roll.
