Crash Test Dummies are still around. You learn something new every day, don’t you?
If you were around in the early ’90s you probably remember the song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” (not “MMMBop”, that was Hanson), and you may even look back on Crash Test Dummies fondly as a guilty pleasure.
They’re really a two-piece band now, just the bass-baritone stylings of frontman Brad Roberts, accompanied by sidekick Ellen Reid. On May 11th, the duo will be releasing their eighth studio album on Deep Fried Records, the followup to 2004’s Songs of the Unforgiven. The album, titled Oooh La La! (an expression that also had its better days in the ’90s), was co-written with producer Stewart Lerman (Antony and the Johnsons) and is likely the only album you’ll hear this year consisting primarily of an Optigan and other kitschy ’70s analog instruments.
For the clueless, “Optigan” is short for optical organ, and it’s manufactured by Mattel. It works using rotating celluloid discs to project unique sounds, unique enough to help make Oooh La La! turn out differently than Roberts had planned. “We were inspired to do things that we wouldn’t have done,” Roberts said in a press release. “I don’t write big band style, but all of a sudden I had this big band [on disc], so I’m writing in a genre that I normally wouldn’t be writing in. I can’t say enough about how great it is to write on these toys.”
Unfortunately, his toys won’t be accompanying Crash Test Dummies on their upcoming U.S. tour in support of the album; instead, they’ll be performing as an acoustic three-piece with guitarist Stuart Cameron. The good news is the band will be touring the U.S. in support of the album. So far, an East Coast leg is confirmed, beginning May 11th in Philadelphia and hitting cities in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Ohio before finishing up in Milwaukee May 23rd. West Coast dates are soon to be announced. Tickets are on Ticketmaster.
Crash Test Dummies 2010 Tour Dates:
05/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
05/13 – Foxboro, MA @ Showcase Live
05/14 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall
05/15 – New York, NY @ City Winery
05/16 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
05/18 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
05/19 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
05/21 – Madison, WI @ The Majestic
05/22 – Chicago, IL @ Martyr’s
05/23 – Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall
06/07 – San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord
