Though the Barenaked Ladies have garnered the majority of their stateside success on the laurels of their goofy, radio-friendly pop tracks, true fans of the eclectic Canadian rockers know enough to appreciate the quieter songs like “Call and Answer” and “What a Good Boy” while still remaining ever-ready to rock out to “One Week.” The Ladies’ newest effort, Barenaked Ladies Are Me, offers more of those introspective moments, and while most of it is a pleasure for longtime followers, there isn’t enough rock left over to pull the individually decent songs into a cohesive album.
Are Me’s opener, “Adrift,” is a call back to the band’s earliest material, matching smart lyrics with sweet harmonies. Following it is “Bank Job,” a good bit of storytelling set against inventive instrumentation. “Sound of Your Voice,” a Queen-like ballad of yearning, is strong enough to make it to the radio as a single. The classic “Easy” has, well, easily stepped up in its first-single role and the closing “Wind it Up” is already lined up for release soon.
After these first few track, and the solid “Bull in a China Shop,” though, the album dissolves into a lull. “Peterborough and the Kawarthas,” written and performed by bassist Jim Creegan, is a sweet number, but if you never thought you’d be complaining about a BNL song that didn’t make any sense, you might find yourself doing just that. Keyboardist Kevin Hearn, whose voice diehards will remember from the hidden track on Maroon, sings the spacey but forgettable “Vanishing.”
Maybe Steven Page left all his harder rocking behind when he recorded his solo The Vanity Project, and maybe the Ladies’ music has aged along with their social awareness, but there’s something missing from Are Me and its bonus disc, which I won’t cover here because it’s not yet available to those who didn’t pre-order the album or get it as a “Deluxe Edition.”
Each of the songs is enjoyable, and there’s time yet for the album to win listeners’ hearts (as I remember Everything to Everyone doing to me after the fourth or fifth time through), but the fact that this new album doesn’t impress right away is a disappointment. The Ladies will always be good, but for now, they fall just short of great this time around.
Rating: * * * of 5
Note: This review was posted yesterday to blogcritics.org and featured in the “spotlight” portion of the music page.
I just purchased John Mayer’s Continuuuuuum, and feel the same way. Maybe I have been watching too many pitchers who change speeds, but the entire disc is too slow, no fastballs.
I have “Continuuuuuuuum” cued up on my iPod for the ride home. I listened to some yesterday and kind of liked it, though it’s not up to the level of, say, “St. Patrick’s Day.”