Maroon, the latest release from the Barenaked Ladies, begins with a riff styled similarly to the Rolling Stones’ classic, Start Me Up. This is where the comparisons between the two groups end. Although the Barenaked Ladies clearly long to be taken seriously on this album, their first release since 1998’s Stunt, they end up losing the fun and light style they are known for.
Champions of geek-pop, the Barenaked Ladies are renowned for their unscripted and silly live performances where they sing their own songs mixed with improvisations of other artists work.
At a concert in January in Washington, D.C. the Barenaked Ladies opened with a song from George Michael’s band, Wham!.
As frontman Steven Page put it, he had once been to a Wham! concert and the band had opened with a Wham! song. The concert was really good, so in his reasoning his band would also open with a Wham! song, just to ensure their concert would be equally good.
This is an example of the light-hearted logic that runs through some of their other great songs like If I Had $1,000,000, One Week and Alcohol. The group is not known for their serious themes, but for their sense of humor.
This style is almost entirely lost on Maroon. The album begins with four songs reminiscent of their classic sound, including their most recent radio release, Pinch Me. However, Pinch Me, although still light in sound introduces, an attempt at philosophical lyrics. This attempt at more serious thoughts is punctuated with still schoolgirl-humored lines like "I just made you say underwear."
Pinch me represents the crossover on the CD between the groups classic style and an attempt at seriousness. From that song on, the group wants to claim validity as a real rock group, and fails.
The last track on the album, Tonight I Fell Asleep at the Wheel, describes the details of a car wreck from the point of view of the victim. The musical accompaniment is somber, as is the listener by this point. After hearing six slow, moody songs, the listener spirals into a dark mood, wondering what happened to the carefree group that was once familiar.
Maroon is a dark point for the Canadian pop stars. Although the first few tracks should please longtime listeners, the group quickly falls into a rut which they are unable to pull themselves out of.