Fans can always expect the unexpected from the Asylum Street Spankers.

After a string of albums featuring dirty ditties and novelty songs, the Austin-based acoustic swing band has released a kids record. Well, sort of.

"Mommy Says No!" is a Spankers approach to childhood that is full of inside jokes and will appeal to the band's adult fans while catching the ears of children — much like the classic Warner Brothers cartoons.

"My favorite cut is the title track," says Wammo, the Spankers' lead singer and songwriter. "It's a child's first hardcore punk rock song."

The song is a punk rock fit being thrown by a child whose mommy won't let him have his way.

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"It's about the trials and tribulations of being a child," Wammo says. "It's your first anti-authority statement."

The Asylum Street Spankers are on the road in support of the new album. They'll make a stop on Tuesday, April 3, at Johnny B's Diner, 35 S. Bartlett St., Medford.

Wammo and Christina Marrs are the core of the group. They met in 1994 at an anything-goes party at the Dabbs Hotel in Llano, Texas, along with another founding member, Guy Forsyth. A pact was made to keep the spirit of that party alive, and the three teamed up with like-minded musicians in Austin. The new troupe began performing for free in clubs and busking for tips on the Guadalupe Street drag — nicknamed Asylum Street because it led to a state hospital.

After taking Austin by storm, they attracted an international audience touring throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan. They also founded their own record label, Spanks-a-Lot-Records, in 1999.

Since then, the Spankers have turned their love of 1920s and '30s ragtime, blues, country and jazz into a distinctive musical act full of raucous roots music and naughty takes on pop culture.

Forsyth left the band in 1998, and the ever-evolving group's lineup has changed a number of times.

"But as long as Christina and I are around, there will always be the Spankers," Wammo says.

"Mommy Says No!" features Sick (guitar, violin and mandolin), P.B. Shane (upright bass), Nevada Newman (resophonic and slide guitar), Scott Marcus (drums and percussion), along with Wammo (vocals, washboard and harmonica) and Marrs (guitar, ukulele, saw and vocals).

Marrs is the only parent in the group, penning three of the songs on the album for her 9-year-old son. He is the cookie-stealing cover model on the album's cover.

The album's concept was an idea that had been tossed around for a few years. When it came to writing the songs for the project, Wammo and Sick had no trouble celebrating their inner 5-year-olds. Wedgies, whoopee cushions and other rough-housing ensued.

The album's songs explore the joys and anxieties of growing up and are played with classic Spankers musicianship and wit.

Marrs kicks off the album with her sentimental pop song titled "Be Like You." The sweet lead vocals and instrumentals in the song are in heavy contrast to the band's male backup vocals, which sound like a chorus of Muppet monsters.

Next comes the frenetic "Training Wheel Rag," written by Sick, followed by a bluesy ode to school lunch boxes, "You Only Love Me for My Lunchbox," by Wammo.

"It's the old story of falling in love with each other because of possessions," Wammo says. "You only love me for my lunch box baby, because it rules. You only love me for my lunch box baby, because its the coolest in school."

Other songs on the album include themes such as being afraid of the dark, sidekicks and a superhero named Super Frog.

But skip to "Boogers," track nine on the album, written by Wammo and Sick, a jazzy Dan Hicks-style tribute to snot.

"The inspiration for that song was on the tip of my finger," Wammo says.

Not all of the Asylum Street Spankers' albums have been theme-related, but there have been a few. "Mommy Says No!" might be the least audacious.

There's "Spanker Madness," a reefer tune record, and "My favorite Record," a celebration of vinyl, along with "A Christmas Spanking."

Other albums include "Mercurial," released in 2004, "Hot Lunch" and "Spanks for the Memories." The band also has several singles, EPs and videos to its credit.

Advance tickets to the "spanking good time" at Johnny B's cost $15. Tickets cost $18 the day of the show. Call 773-0900.