January 24, 1999
Stunt
There's no more vicious indictment of a civilisation that laughs at [I][B]Friends[/B][/I] and gave both the [B]Crash Test Dummies[/B] and [a]Weezer[/a] hits, than the fact that these cohorts of Sat
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Even the Bible got it wrong occasionally. Judgement Day will not be heralded by the clarion call of Archangels' trumpets, but by the trilling ooze of FM rock. What better way to catch humanity so deep in sin that the big lad upstairs will decide that a couple of lifetimes in purgatory will be the least we deserve.
The release of the fourth album by Canada's Barenaked Ladies, then, should have all of those millennial sects grinning smugly, for there's no more vicious indictment of a civilisation that laughs at Friends and gave both the Crash Test Dummies and Weezer hits, than the fact that these cohorts of Satan have sold six million records and had a Number One single Stateside with 'One Week'. 'Stunt' could variously be described as melodic, quirky, dull, soulless and plain, good old-fashioned horrible.
In effect this is They Might Be Giants without the tunes, Carter without the anger and Travis with all of the punk rock sucked out of them. This, in short, is the end of Western civilisation disguised as The Spin Doctors' greatest hits. A cunning stunt from a bunch of... well, use your imagination.
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