Barenaked Ladies
Maroon
On Sale Now
For $13.75

Welcome to the new "mature" Barenaked Ladies. This merry band of wacky Canadians follows up their 4 million-selling record Stunt with a new one that’s a little bit less glib, a little more grown up than most of their recorded output.

Fortunately BNL’s latest also retains their uncanny knack for pure pop melodies. That’s most evident on tracks like the opening "Too Little Too Late," which combines sweet harmonies, shaken tambourine, big drums and tasty guitars. And "Baby Seat," which sounds like some lost hit from the ‘80s, showcases singer Steven Page’s ability to hit high notes on its engaging chorus.

The record’s first single "Pinch Me" is the band’s attempt to duplicate the monster success of Stunt’s "One Week." It doesn’t quite have the immediacy or the pop culture reference barrage of that song but it does have another one of Ed Robertson’s goofy motor-mouthed white boy raps. The song improves dramatically however once Page’s background vocals come up in the mix.

"Go Home" does offer funny references to Joan of Ark and Catherine the Great in a catchy "mature" pop song about commitment. "If you need her, you should be there, go home," Page sings.

But it’s about half way through Maroon that BNL really starts to show us some things we haven’t seen them do much before. There is the cocktail jazz-y character piece "Conventioneers" about two co-workers who have an ill-advised fling at a convention. And on "Sell Sell Sell," which features another rapid-fire vocal, this time from Page, the band tells the story of a has-been actor now doing commercials.

"Helicopters," a song about leaving a war zone after an attack, might have more impact if the music wasn’t so darn peppy and if the arrangement wasn’t so busy. The media and a duplicitous military are targets of the song, but it ultimately doesn’t really have teeth. Still that is one of the things BNL often does best, coating sometimes bitter lyrical pills in a candy pop exterior. And the track does have some of Maroon’s best lines. "The world that loves its irony must hate the protest singer," Page sings.

Elsewhere though the band’s quirkiness can get in the way. "Get in Line" has a nice chorus and a twangy guitar riff but seems burdened by a cluttered arrangement. Similarly, the catchy "Humour of the Situation" is nearly undermined by a chintzy kiddie keyboard sound.

However none of this prepares you for the record’s penultimate track. "Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep At the Wheel" is a haunting, slow motion first person account of a fatal traffic accident set against banjo and accordion accompaniment. Page sings: "No commotion, no screaming brakes/Most of it’s over before I awake/ From the ceiling my coffee cup drips/ While out my window, the horizon does flips." Not something you’re gonna want to listen to over and over but the song does show the continuing growth of the band.

The bad news is Barenaked Ladies may never make a record as funny and as imbued with the love of music as their 1992 debut Gordon. That record contained classic BNL songs like "Brian Wilson," "Be My Yoko Ono," "Box Set," and "Grade 9" in addition to the concert favorite "If I Had $1,000,000." On subsequent records, the band has been only marginally successful at recapturing the cleverness and humor of that record or of their always engagingly goofy live shows. Even the 1996 live Rock Spectacle edited out most of Page and Robertson’s silly, improvised musings and medleys in favor of note-for-note recreations of the album tracks.

But on Maroon it becomes clear that Barenaked Ladies are about more than just their wacky sense of humor. Far from a Canadian Weird Al Yankovic or a "One Week" one-hit-wonder, they are actually a band with some depth and that may be their ticket to lasting success.

Check out Barenaked Ladies' web site at www.bnlmusic.com.

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