Published on Oct 27, 1998
Pop music, fundamentally, can go one of two directions. It can
be basic and straightforward, or it can have a slight tinge of
cleverness to it, a soup-con of side jokes and catchy hooks. Clever
bands can be annoying, or they can be some of the most delightful,
accessible music available. For all their self-aware cleverness,
Barenaked Ladies falls into the second category.
Since the days of
Gordon when Barenaked Ladies sang the slightly twisted pop
ditty “Be My Yoko Ono,” the band has been an engaging mix of rock,
folk, jazz, pop, and weird. On the down side, their American
success has been small, despite radio airplay for the single “Jane”
off
Maybe You Should Drive. A loyal fan base (in fact, so loyal
that they are willing to throw Kraft Dinner on the stage during
Barenaked Ladies’ concerts) has brought them some success…and
their latest and newest CD,
Stunt, is finally bringing them major success, including a
Billboard Top Ten and VH-1 airplay.
Stunt hits the ground running with the infectious “One
Week,” continuing the Barenaked Ladies tradition of complex,
bizarre lyrics. The song includes mentions of wasabi, Leann Rimes,
the X-Files, Harrison Ford, Sting, and Kurosawa. “One Week” shows
some influence from Blues Traveler, with its rapid-fire lyrical
delivery and jangling guitar, but Barenaked Ladies is more than
just another white-boys-with-harmonicas BT clone.
Stunt also includes straight-ahead rock (“It’s All Been
Done”), love ballads (“Call And Answer”), galloping country-rock
(“Never Is Enough”), and a touching song for a new child (“When You
Dream”). The music is crisp and well-produced; the loss of
keyboardist Andrew Creegan is aptly handled with the addition of
tour keyboardist Kevin Hearn without noticeable loss. There are no
weak tracks on this album, and the sheer amusement of a CD with
lyrics like “The world’s your oyster shell/but what’s that funny
smell/you eat the bivalve anyway/you’re sick with salmonella/You
get your Ph.D/How happy you will be/When you get a job at
Wendy’s/And are honoured with Employee Of The Month” (“Never Is
Enough,” Page/Robertson) makes this a definite must-have for anyone
with a fondness for clever, well-constructed pop.