Barenaked Ladies

Quirky, humour-driven alt-rockers from the Great White North, Barenaked Ladies splashed onto the Canadian scene with the first ever native indie release to achieve platinum status, and built up a solid fanbase via constant touring and a demanding release schedule. Their fifth album, Stunt, also went through the roof on the coat-tails of their only U.S. #1 single, "One Week" (Top 5 in the U.K.).

BNL shows its tender side in Next Steps.

Part of Barenaked Ladies' appeal is that they are not only unremittingly nutty — the straight-ahead, utterly gorgeous pop song "Jane", the first single from Maybe You Should Drive, manages to be heartfelt without slipping into sappiness. On the other side of the coin, "Shopping", their paean to consumerism, is full to capacity with BNL's trademark humour.

Hear the Ladies live, in Deep Cuts.

A couple of tracks here demonstrate why BNL's live shows are such legendary experiences: "Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!" (recorded in Dallas) from Play Everywhere for Everyone lathers their audience into a fine old mosh, while "Make My Heart Fly" — a well-judged Proclaimers cover for an appreciative Glasgow crowd — gets the hordes a-swayin'. "The Other Day I Met a Bear" exposes the folkier side of the Ladies.

An unlikely name for an unlikely Canadian alt-rock powerhouse, Barenaked Ladies first came to notice in 1991 with a self-titled tape that ultimately became the first-ever indie release to reach platinum status in Canada. Not quite as self-consciously smarty-pants as They Might Be Giants, the Ladies share a quirky, humorous take on pop music with their American cousins, although the Canadians have achieved a more sustained chart presence over the years. Maybe because they don't really look like rock stars or perhaps because they actually seem to be (and, by all accounts, are) having fun doing what they do, they've been warmly embraced by audiences in North America and Europe, and the party shows no signs of slowing down.