Review: Detour De Force

Friday I was playing Code Monkey by Jonathon Coulton on repeat at Maximum Alexa Volume just so I could hear this line over and over again:

“Code Monkey think/ maybe manager / wanna write / goddamned / login page himself”

… but then the new Barenaked Ladies CD Detour de Force landed on my porch.

Overall, 14 tracks. I am only guessing about themes here, but:

3 Songs about being a child: Man Made Lake, Big Back Yard, Live Well

2 Songs about being in a band: Good Life, Roll Out

2 Songs criticizing Current Dim-witted Fascist Society: Flat Earth, New Disaster 

3 Vague Worrisome Songs about Relationships: Flip, Here Together, God Forbid

2 Songs Complaining about Suburban Life: Bylaw, The National Park

2 Songs Remaining That Sound Like Other Songs : Paul Chambers which sounds like a 60’s LP my Dad would have, Internal Dynamo (which sounds like Liz Phair on Exile In Guyville)

I couldn’t find one typo. I thought there was one (b-apostrophe-y), but it’s a reference to BNL evidently hiring the tour manager away from Great Big Sea.

My favorite song is Man Made Lake, for the lyrics and progression, and then after that New Disaster, primarily for the rhyme “Stay tuned for scary monsters … But first a word from sponsors.”

My very favorite line overall is from Good Life: “It comes to pass / it doesn’t come to stay.” 

Comments

[KC]

Code monkey!!! (The music video for Code Monkey annoys me unduly for the "guy saves girl" thing *AGAIN* come on people could we maybe somehow get less of this junk in nerd-land, maybe? [Dr. Horrible, etc.] But otherwise, it is generally a delightful song.)(Although again, it is only delightful as long as one does not assume only one type of code monkey exists, for behold, I am not male and also do not like either Tab or Mountain Dew, etc., but there *are* a lot who do, so...)

"Stay tuned for scary monsters... But first a word from sponsors" is especially enjoyable to me since my brain suggests there remains a slight possibility that the sponsors might be the monsters (although really, probably not, since "but first" implies that this is not that, sigh).

[TheQueen]

KC - oh, I hate the video. Code monkey not violent. Code monkey not throw things.

[KC]

"Code monkey not throw things at the screen" might work out well in the song, really...