Another question mark that can’t be ignored
“One Week” was the worst thing to happen to Barenaked Ladies, at least in America; they would go onto plenty of success in their great northern homeland. Still, the fact that this cobbled-together, intentionally nonsensical ear-worm became their biggest hit convinced listeners that they were a mere novelty act, the kind the ’90s pop scene churned out with frequency. But Barenaked Ladies can do better than “fun,” they can be poignant and affecting. Their debut, Gordon, is just as witty and nerdy, but it’s anchored in powerful emotion, pleasant jangle-pop and gorgeous harmonies. After “One Week,” many of their material got more and more rote even as their musical palette remained eclectic. It’s an odd paradox that has followed them throughout their whole career, and sadly, Detour de Force remains just as inconsistent. There are some definite highlights, especially in the second half. Still, the production has never sounded worse, the lyrical content never rises above okay and it wears out its welcome at nearly an hour run-time.
With this being their 13th primary studio record, the clown princes of Canada have worked with a variety of producers. Working the knobs behind their strange mix of rock, hip-hop, pop, country and folk and adjusting between three lead-vocalists cannot be easy, but others have done it fine before. For Detour de Force, they called in two producers, Eric Ratz and Mark Howard, newcomers to the Ladies but veterans with Grammys and Junos to spare between them. Perhaps they didn’t get along or unprepared for the Ladies’ depth of mix, but Detour de Force features the worst-sounding instrumentation in BnL’s history, though there are plenty of serene moments. It doesn’t ease into the bad production either, as opener “Flip” features a decently catchy hook obfuscated by spritzy horns, clanging guitars and metallic vocals.
Again, the percussion ranges from snaps and claps opening “Big Back Yard” to machines on “Man Made Lake” to stick-tapping on “God Forbid” to an actual kit elsewhere, but there’s no excuse for the crinkly cymbals underlying “Live Well” and “New Disaster.” A lot of the music has a crinkly, mushy feel to it, and the vocals have a robotically perfect pitch that robs the harmonies of their impact in addition to the lame millennial whoops. Even on otherwise well-produced songs like “By Law,” it’s hard to get past the auto-tuned repetition that didn’t need to be there. Restraint is a problem as a whole, as several songs go on too long while doing little with their extra run-time; “The National Park” is most guilty of this.
It’s a shame because aside from the length, “The National Park” is one of the most serene, awe-inspiring songs the band has ever put together. The wind-swept keyboard melodies, the hopeful acoustics and Kevin Hearn’s Peter Gabriel-esque warbling charm create a beautiful soundscape. Detour de Force is full of beautiful moments and interesting musical aesthetics; “Paul Chambers” fits into the early ’80s sophisti-pop a la Prefab Sprout with its delicate lead vocals and jazzy instrumentation, the guitars are crisp and resonant on the country-esque “God Forbid” against the eerie pedal steel and “By Law” captures a pastoral, working man’s charm with the best sounding horns and organs on the record.
Sadly, little of the actual content is all that interesting. “Here Together” and “Roll Out” are a one-two punch of nothingness halfway through the record, with the former barely registering and the latter only standing out with an ugly bro-country bravado five years out of date. The social commentary on “Flat Earth” and “New Disaster” is as basic and uninteresting as the organ and chugging melody of the former, and “Flip” tries to cram in too many forced rhymes and syllables to replicate their trademark zaniness that used to come naturally. “Brian Wilson,” the best song on Gordon, might have been chipper and whimsical, but it used that silliness to mine interesting emotional territory. “Live Well” is the most effective because the hook cuts through the irony and feels real in its sentiment and delivery, unlike so much of its peers.
It is still impressive how beautiful and serene some of the songs on Detour de Force are, though it’s equally impressive how terrible some of the production is. For Barenaked Ladies, a band built on oddness and zaniness, their ability to surprise is a point in their favor, even if it’s not for all the right reasons.
