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"God Shuffled His Feet" by Crash Test Dummies
By Webjockey Elke Jon
View the Rifflist, hear the clips: "God Shuffled His Feet"
 Pop in your ear buds and tune into Crash Test Dummies' 1993 album "God Shuffled His Feet" and you'll hear the familiar sound of an immediately likeable alt-pop album of the mid-'90s: that jingle jangle mandolin-guitar sound, a bit of tasteful synthesizer to spice things up-And then Brad Roberts' voice suddenly warbles through your speakers, singing in deep tuba-like vocals about lung cancer, picnics with god, and cavemen. What the hell?
With its wicked irony, intelligent lyricism, and overall general weirdness, "God Shuffled His Feet" is clearly more than just your average, blandly inoffensive adult alternative fare. Questioning god (literally!) within the first few minutes of the first album track, the Dummies infuse their dark lyrics with a witty irreverence and dry humor that plays off their catchy, upbeat melodies with a fabulously dualistic effect-On "Afternoons and Coffeespoons," Brad Roberts sings joyously over a sunny scrubbing guitar: "Someday I'll have / A disappearing hairline!"
The album's irresistible sound, infused with major keys, cheerful choral backup, and even chirping clips of frogs and crickets (cleverly accompanying musings on being "stuck right out in nature") blends in a weirdly wonderful way with Robert's almost comically deep velvet vocals, creating a sound that underscores the humor of the album while still hypnotizing the listener with its irresistible appeal.
Embedded within these tracks are universal questions of existence, creation, sexuality, faith-in short, the Dummies manage to somehow create a charming, fun album that becomes progressively more rich in meaning as the listener hears it.
And to those who are still not convinced, I know exactly what you are thinking: Yeah, we all remember that the band's bizarre fable "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm" was featured in the goofy Jim Carrey comedy Dumb and Dumber in 1995, a fact that some music snobs would turn their noses up at...but who cares? This album is totally worth giving another go-round, whether you listened to it in '93 or not!
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