Nary 9 years ago, Crash Test Dummies were in crisis. With all their “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” cash spent years before on their expensive Canadian lifestyle and those charming PSAs, James Earl Jones apprentice/lead singer Brad Roberts nobly recorded a solo acoustic double album for a much-needed cash infusion.
Yet 2001's Crash Test Dude was chocked with songs titles like “Oral Sex is Proffered by Mr. Roberts in Order to Compensate a Customer” and “My Reputation in the Politically Correct Press as 'Crash Test Drunkard'” and was therefore horribly misunderstood by said Politically Correct Press, especially this misguided Allmusic reviewer:
This CD is a real shame…It is also the performance of an artist who does not seem to care a great deal about his audience…His version of Britney Spears' “Baby One More Time” following a poem titled “Circumcision” is neither funny or ironic. It is plain pathetic…The humor is full of anger and at times borders on offensive, which may have been his plan…One wonders if he hates these artists, or is paying some form of tribute. To be honest, it is never clear, but one thing that is clear is that he should stick to his own material.
Despite this minor artistic setback, Crash Test Dummies took this advice to heart in 2004's Songs for the Unforgiven and now, 2010's Oooh La La! which was inspired after the band became “infatuated with vintage analog musical toys.” Of course! Vintage is in! Take it away, Mr. Roberts: “I can't say enough about how great it is to write on these toys.”
Neither can we Brad, neither can we. Oooh La La! is on sale now at a Sam Goody near you.
