Crash Test Dummies are best known for their 1993 worldwide hit “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” yet the Canadian band put out six more albums after that before going on hiatus in 2005. CTD is back this week with Oooh La La (Deep Fried) but in a brand new incarnation. Mainman Brad Roberts (now based in New York City) wrote and recorded the album with producer and engineer Stewart Lerman (Antony And The Johnsons, Marshall Crenshaw, Roches) using ’70s musical toys such as the Optigan for the majority of the LP. (The two were joined on Oooh La La by longtime CTD backing vocalist Ellen Reid.) The result is the happiest-sounding record of Roberts’ two-decade career. Roberts will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him.
Roberts: I rehearsed for our current tour with a bunch of great players whom I had never met. It was quite an experience, lemme tell you. We sounded great! Ellen would soon be added into the mix, and she made everything divine. My head was still ringing from sitting in front of a very loud monitor speaker. Sang for four solid straight hours. Managed not to blow it. Once I get back in the saddle, these pipes of mine are going to pump air like a bellows at Christmas. Hope you see me soon!
Video after the jump; photo by Wayne O’Connor
