Music Review: Barenaked Ladies - Silverball

The Ladies’ currency has always been catchy songs that excel in clever rhymes and witty wordplay. After 27 years, the Ladies—Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn and Tyler Stewart—are at their tuneful, wisecracking best. The group’s 14^th album finds the Ladies on a roll, boasting all the swagger of a group that knows its strengths. It opens with the rocking “Get Back Up,” a song about midlife resurgence that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee with its pithy boxing metaphors. “Say What You Want” is an exuberant expression of mature confidence, while “Duct Tape Heart” uses Red Green’s favorite fix-all material to express romantic resiliency. The title track reflects Robertson’s obsession with pinball and likens the mastery of flippers and bumpers to a successful two-way relationship. The album ends on a bittersweet note, with Hearn’s heartbreaking “Tired of Fighting with You,” proving there’s depth—as well as drollness—in the Ladies’ best work.