Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete

Nickelodeon's late, lamented Adventures of Pete & Pete was the greatest children's show ever. Documenting the surreally hilarious exploits of teenager Pete Wrigley and his younger brother, Pete, the series earned hipster cachet for its stunt casting (cameos included the likes of Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop, Janeane Garafalo, and Steve Buscemi) as well as its uncommonly cool musical sensibility — in one episode, Luscious Jackson played the school prom, with bassist Gabby Glaser even making eyes at older Pete. The series' title theme and much of its incidental music was performed by Polaris, the side project of then-Miracle Legion frontman Mark Mulcahy; their crisp, richly melodic jangle pop perfectly complemented the show's vibrant wit, but except for a premium cassingle available from Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, no official Pete & Pete soundtrack was ever made available. Polaris' debut isn't quite official — Music From the Adventures of Pete & Pete consists of what sounds like re-recordings, although they're almost mirror images of the originals. No matter, these dozen tracks are still superb, especially the nearly unintelligible theme "Hey Sandy," the lovely "She Is Staggering," and most notably "Summerbaby," little Pete's all-time favorite song per the classic "Hard Day's Pete" episode. Even the Powerpuff Girls never had it so good.