Send "Crash Test Dummies " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Just as The Eels are essentially Mark Everett and a revolving band of side players, Crash Test Dummies are basically Brad Roberts and whoever else he brings along for the ride.The 19-year-old Canadian band is Roberts’ vehicle for whatever is on his mind musically and lyrically. He’s not exactly prolific—this is the Dummies’ ninth album in 19 years—but he’s always interesting. And much like Everett, Roberts has a skewed perspective that seems to see the world through a different filter than the rest of us. That’s a good thing, of course, and it’s typically what we should expect from artists. Oooh Lala! is the Crash Test Dummies’ first release in six years and it’s a long way from the alternative rock that brought the band to prominence in the early ‘90s. While it’s kind of hard to imagine now, this is a band that sold millions of records, was nominated for a Grammy with 1993’s God Shuffled His Feet, and had a substantial hit with the song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.” It feels like forever since then, just as it seems impossible for an idiosyncratic band like this to break out in today’s music industry. It’s a good thing for Roberts that he no longer has to worry about such ephemera....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| When we last heard from acclaimed Canadian folk-rockers the Crash Test Dummies on 2004’s Songs of the Unforgiven, lead Dummie Brad Roberts delivered a melancholy and haunting record largely based around a 19th century pipe organ. While achingly beautiful at times, it was also a bit out of left field, even for a band that has made a habit (and career) out of doing the unexpected. What a difference nearly six years has made. On Oooh La La, the Dummies’ ninth studio offering, Roberts’ outlook has transitioned from dark and foreboding to uncharacteristically light and, dare I say, joyful. The result is a record that covers new musical ground for the Dummies without straying as far from the offbeat pop style that attracted fans to the band in the first place. “Songbird” opens Oooh La La and immediately suggests that some things never change. Roberts’ inimitable baritone still sounds rich and welcomes the listener like an old friend, and the chorus absolutely soars with longtime Dummie Ellen Reid sharing vocal duties. The acoustic-based “The In-Between Place” saunters along and touches upon the ambivalent feeling of being neither here nor there. “I’ve still got my mind, my body, and my heart/I can still be unkind/I can still come apart/I’m in the in-between place.” The real stunner, however, is the record’s bold and bright third track, “And It’s Beautiful”, on which Roberts is so unabashedly happy that it’s hard to believe this is the same man who wrote songs like “At My Funeral” and “The Unforgiven Ones”. “A glass is never just half full,” sings Roberts, “The flowers vivid, colorful/Though we feel the push and pull/Still it’s beautiful.” Even the odd inclusion of chanting/speaking in tongues between verses somehow works perfectly here and adds to the life-affirming vibe of the song....full text |
| Elbo |
| The Canadian band's first disc in six years features some truly strange arrangements and an intriguing mix of new tunes. Just as The Eels are essentially Mark Everett and a revolving band of side players, Crash Test Dummies are basically Brad Roberts and whoever else he brings along for the ride. The 19-year-old Canadian band is Roberts' vehicle for whatever is on his mind musically and lyrically. He's not exactly prolific -- this is the Dummies' ninth album in 19 years -- but he's always interesting. And much like Everett, Roberts has a skewed perspective......full text |
Crash Test Dummies lyrics
|
| |||||||
