At risk of sounding politically incorrect, I'm just about always in the mood for "Barenaked Ladies." Therefore, I was justifiably excited when I received a copy of their latest CD, "Stunt." "Barenaked Ladies" is a Canadian pop rock band that enjoyed a cult following for several years before achieving some mainstream success with their live album "Rock Spectacle."

Their music is a mixture of catchy pop grooves with quirky, intelligent lyric writing, reminiscent of a more accessible "They Might Be Giants." Each of the musicians seem to possess a strong sense of melody, and, more importantly, a good sense of humor. The real charm of their music for me comes from the fact that they can take a totally serious song and keep it light enough to be fun.

The CD opens with the song "One Week," which also happens to be the first single released from the album. It's their first experiment with hip-hop freestyling on a studio album, though they've been freestyling since their inception in their live performances. This is followed by a slice of pop manna called "It's All Been Done." It harks back to the melodic ditties of early rock and roll, with the simple, satisfying melody and doo wop backing vocals.

The album's first slow song, "Light Up My Room," is next. It features some interesting sonic background effects, and vocals sung over a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar. An accordion intro highlights one of the strongest tracks on the album, "I'll Be That Girl." The song is about a morbid subject, autoerotic asphyxiation, and they contrast the horror of the subject itself with the bright melody they choose to present it with. The song is rife with lines like "If I were the sun/ You would walk in shadow/ If I had a gun/ There'd be no tomorrow," and yet, it's a fun song.

The band's tribute to bad relationships follows, with the amusing rocker "Leave." People who own this album will undoubtedly find themselves playing it for soon-to-be-ex's in hopes of subliminally encouraging them to get the hell out. Another of my personal favorite tracks, "Alcohol," follows. This is one of the hardest rocking songs on the album and features some pretty cleverly written lines like: "Forget the cafe latte/ Screw the rasberry iced tea/ A Malibu and coke for you/ A G and T for me."

They take an interesting approach to the lovely ballad "Call And Answer." As the title suggests, the chorus features a call and answer musical conversation between the two vocalists, which seems to add a certain substance to the lyrics. Following, is the song "In the Car," a song that reminisces about an early relationship, growing up where many of the turning points take place in a car. This song will take a lot of people back to their own teenage years (or perhaps give teenagers ideas that they should have already thought of by now).

The song "Never Is Enough" gives further testament to their quirky lyric writing ability. The melody is light and engaging, but the lyrics are the strength of this song. One of my favorite lines is: "You get your Ph.D./ How happy you will be when you get a job with Wendy's/ And are honored with employee of the month." This is followed by the theme song of everyone who writes for a living, the trademark of the Starbucks generation, "Who Needs Sleep?" The song speeds up noticeably at the chorus, as if deliberately illustrating someone before and after caffeine.

The album rounds out with a ballad, "I Told You So," the humourously experimental "Some Fantastic," which also features interplay between two vocalists, and the spacey, ethereal "When You Dream." The vocals seem literally to float over the lush background music, and all effort to re-create a dreamlike state is made.

This album has it all. It mentions alcohol, caffeine, sex, and suicide, but does so without seeming repetitive or cliche. "Barenaked Ladies" has a highly original style, especially in the department of lyric writing, and they write music that is not so much world-changing as it is fun to listen to. They have yet to enjoy huge mainstream success, but this album could be the one that turns them into a household name.