Review by LarryG
2 stars out of 4
Wildly popular in their native Canada, until recently Barenaked Ladies
were unable to make much of a dent in the U.S. They came across as nice
guys and good musicians but seemed a little Canadian, too mild and polite.
So One Week, the brash, cocky smash hit from Stunt, came as a very pleasant
surprise. It was one of the best singles of the year. It's a great
dance song, white rap that's not embarrassing, and has a great groove.
One of the fun games of last summer was trying to decipher the smart,
goofy lightning fast lyrics with their allusions to everything from
LeAnn Rimes to Kurasawa. Unfortunately, the rest of the album isn't the
same bold departure. It's All Been Done is an extremely likeable midtempo
rocker about time travel. But the rest of the record is pleasant but kind
of boring. Call and Answer is a very sweet ballad with vocalist Steven
Page offering to do what it takes to make a relationship work but its
subdued tone wears thin over six minutes. Light Up My Room and Leave are
inoffensive but barely leave an impression. Alcohol is a decent rocker
but is hardly ground breaking lyrically or musically. Who Needs Sleep?
and Never Is Enough and enjoyable midtempo songs with smart, sarcastic
lyrics but their charms are fairly modest. Stunt is never bad and is
usually quite good but record buyers should be warned that the pleasures
of the rest of Stunt are much more subtle than on One Week.
Reader Feedback
I have read several of larry G.'s reviews and it seem to me that he thinks
that anything inoffensive is bad. He insults this album for not being
"groundbreaking" but gives squeeze a 5 of 5 for continuing to write catchy
pop lyrics.
--Jesse
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