I\u2019ll readily admit that I had really low expectations going into this record. All the signs were there pointing towards this being a washed-up cash-grab novelty. We\u2019ve got two completely different musical acts that on paper shouldn\u2019t mesh well at all. The Barenaked Ladies is a group of dorky middle-aged Canadian guys who play just about the whitest music possible, and the Persuasions is old black dudes who sing a cappella soul music. How could these two flavors possibly mix? Surprisingly well, actually. The band does a fantastic job with song selection, picking tracks that would suit this multi-vocalist approach and usually avoiding the obvious hits. They’ve also reconfigured most of the arrangements to fit with their live-in-the-studio approach. BNL can be a great rock band when they want to, but they’ve always been exceptionally well-suited to playing acoustic instruments; this album shows off that side of the band wonderfully.<\/p>\n
The best moments on the album are actually the band\u2019s newer songs. It\u2019s no secret that I wasn\u2019t a fan of the overly slick production on the band\u2019s Silverball<\/i> and Grinning Streak<\/i> albums, but in this much looser environment, these songs actually shine quite brightly. \u201cNarrow Streets\u201d just felt like a token Jim Creeggan song when it popped up in the middle of Silverball<\/i>, but positioned as the album opener and given an acoustic folky overhaul here, it suddenly becomes one of the band\u2019s most delightful songs. I almost couldn\u2019t believe that this wasn\u2019t a brand-new track when I first put this disc on. \u201cOdds Are,\u201d \u201cGonna Walk,\u201d and \u201cKeepin\u2019 It Real\u201d also get improved in similar ways. The environment really brings out the best in this material.<\/p>\n
The frequent lead vocals and interjections by The Persuasions members were something I wasn\u2019t sure if I could get on board with at first. They’re all excellent singers, but I was skeptical of how well their vocals would mesh with those of the The Barenaked Ladies. But this particular vocal blend isn\u2019t something I\u2019ve ever heard anywhere else, so I\u2019ve grown kind of fond of it. The occasional studio chatter and silly comments, plus the slight messiness of it all due to the album\u2019s quick turn-around time (they recorded it in just two days), gives it a great off-the-cuff feel that\u2019s almost never been captured on the band\u2019s studio albums. It feels like you showed up to a party and BNL and The Persuasions were there and they just picked up whatever instruments were around and started playing and having fun. It\u2019s the same sort of atmosphere that the Beach Boys tried to pull off with their Party<\/i> album way back in the \u201860s, and BNL nails that vibe as well as they possibly could have.<\/p>\n
There are two tracks on here that most BNL fans won’t have heard before. \u201cDon’t Shuffle Me Back\u201d originates from one of Kevin Hearn\u2019s solo albums and instantly secures its place as a BNL highlight. They also play one song originally by The Persuasions called \u201cGood Times,\u201d and it\u2019s just alright. Ed Robertson\u2019s ad-libbed rap verse certainly isn\u2019t going to gain him any street cred. But that\u2019s typical for BNL, so I don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n
There are a few picks I’m less enthused about here. Yes, of course \u201cOne Week\u201d is featured, and while I could have done without it, the band\u2019s dedication to revamping their songs still applies so it doesn\u2019t feel like the rote run-through that it could have easily been. \u201cI Can Sing\u201d is a song that I like a fair amount, but it seems a bit of an odd choice to conclude the album on. \u201cThe Old Apartment\u201d is a fan favorite, but it’s never been a personal highlight of mine, though handing the lead vocals entirely to the Persuasions was an interesting choice. Also, I’ve never really been into \u201cWhen I Fall\u201d all that much. But it’s still as well performed as I could ask for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome Fantastic\u201d was an inspired song selection. It was a duet to begin with, so it translates really well to this environment with the different members trading off verses. \u201cFor You,\u201d \u201cSound Of Your Voice,\u201d and \u201cMaybe Katie\u201d are always highlights no matter the context, and the versions we get here maintain those song’s great qualities.<\/p>\n
On the surface, this album seems like it might be a pointless gimmick, but it actually might be the band’s best project this decade. If you’re a fan, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":33338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10097],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-45151","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-barenaked-ladies-and-the-persuasions","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45151"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}