It’s been… quite some time since the collective conscience even thought about Barenaked Ladies. Aside from a side-gag in Community and a running joke on Comedy Bang Bang, it’s probably a safe bet you didn’t even know they were still around.
However, Silverball is the band’s 14th album, which indicates the Canadian foursome never truly went away. We just stopped paying attention around the turn of the century – and, from what can be gathered, we haven’t missed out on much.
Silverball is wimpy, perfectly-pleasant and generally-dull indie-pop that plays like a Scrubs soundtrack – and the fact that show hasn’t been on air for years will give you an idea of the timeliness of the record. There’s a snicker to be had here and there – Piece of Cake carries an endearingly-dorky chorus (“It was a piece of cake/ But making cake’s not easy”), and opener Get Back Up is about as faithful a send-up of ‘80s-movie montage music as you could ask for. Perhaps, though, the most telling lyric comes from the record’s title track: “If you’ve seen one, then they’re all the same.” It has, indeed, all been done before.
BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
