To Travel Sideways

AMG Review of To Travel Sideways

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

After a four-year absence, Kid Creole & the Coconuts suddenly returned in 1995 (in Japan, anyway, with their efforts later made available in the U.S. and elsewhere), releasing two albums within two months. The first and less impressive one was To Travel Sideways. As ever, Kid Creole maintained his tropical dance sound (with forays into harder rock and disco) and his lyrical persona of a gigolo philosopher, warning, in "Baby, I'm Real," that the likelihood of his being faithful was slight and complaining, "You Shoulda Told Me You Were Catholic" before concluding "Life Is Always Good." But the album was padded with covers of the Beatles' "Things We Said Today," the hippie anthem "Get Together," and "The Anniversary Medley," which revisited old hits like "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy" and "Stool Pigeon."