Barenaked Ladies

Gordon

Sire

What's this, the latest concept for an nude all girl group? Nope. Actually, it's five wacky guys from Toronto who specialize in their own unique brand of musical chaos, sometimes referred to as,"acoustic hip-hop." Formed in 1988 by songwriters and guitarists, Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the ensemble soon added brothers, Jim and Andy Creeggan on bass and congas, respectively and drummer, Tyler Stewart. The Creeggan brothers had strong backgrounds in jazz, while Stewart came with hard rock credentials. Added to Robertson's country roots and Page's love of pop, the group concocted a sound that is, without question, more than the sum of its parts. This conglomeration soon proved to be the catalyst that pushed the band to begin intensive, cross-country tours of Canada, playing club and concert dates and eventually performing to sold-out 7,000 seat venues over the next two years. 1991 saw the release of a five song EP which sold over 80,000 copies, due in part, to the Canadian Top 40 hit,"Be My Yoko Ono."

The success of the single propelled the EP to Top 20 status on the national retail charts, outselling albums by Michael Jackson and U2 in the process. You can hear the single that started the commotion, along with fourteen other delightful cuts on their major label debut, Gordon. There are songs about Brian Wilson, a woman named, "Enid" and others with titles like, "If I Had $1000000," "The King Of Bedside Manor," (with cartoon sound effects at choice moments.), "Grade 9," and "Wrap Your Arms Around Me," which sounds like C, S, N could have written and recorded it. Lasting nearly an hour, the album is one that's easy to love. The obvious dumbfounded grin spreading across your face while you try to follow their musical hairpin turns will be proof enough of that. Imagine Los Lobos and The Bob's recording an album with Flo And Eddie. If this idea sounds intriguing, then by all means keep an eye out for, Barenaked Ladies. (SC)

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