MADPOD Crash Test Dummies Interview

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MADPOD Crash Test Dummies Interview

With their clever, smug lyrics and cloying folk-tinged melodies, the
Crash Test Dummies were a perfect rock band for affluent ’90s college
students and yuppies. Their first album was a huge hit in their native
Canada, but only gained a small cult following in other parts of the
world. Thanks to former Talking Head Jerry Harrison’s clean,
radio-friendly production, the follow-up, God Shuffled His Feet (1993),
broke big in the States and, in turn, Europe. The first single from the
album, “MMM MMM MMM MMM,” became a worldwide Top Ten hit, making the
group a minor sensation with their self-consciously bizarre lyrics and
singer/songwriter Brad Roberts’ deep baritone. A Worm’s Life followed
in 1996, and three years later the Crash Test Dummies resurfaced with
Give Yourself a Hand. Frontman Brad Roberts resurfaced in fall 2000
with a solo album, Crash Test Dude, a collection of acoustic hits from
the Crash Test Dummies and eclectic covers. It was also during this
time that Roberts suffered a serious car crash, almost losing his arm.
Seven months later, however, Roberts returned to the Crash Test Dummies
circuit to issue I Don’t Care That You Don’t Mind, a brand-new batch of
songs written with lobster fishermen/musicians whom Roberts met during
his rehabilitation. Late 2001 and early 2002 saw more solo albums from
members (Ellen Reid’s Cinderellen and Mitch Dorge’s As Trees Walking)
and the Dummies became more Brad Roberts’ project than a traditional
band. A new three-piece unit with Reid, Brad Roberts and original
bassist Dan Roberts released the Christmas album Jingle All the Way in
late 2002 but limited distribution made the album hard to find. The
album was reissued in late 2003 along with a new album, Puss ‘n’ Boots,
with Reid and Dan Roberts adding to what was originally planned as a
Brad Roberts solo album.
Brad Roberts joins Shadoe from New York City