Good Stuff Good Stuff
Ever been to a party where you're anticipating getting together with
old friends, and one of the people you were most hoping to see doesn't
show up? Although everybody works hard at having a good time, you
can't escape the fact that something/someone is missing.
That's what The B-52's have to contend with on GOOD STUFF. Cindy
Wilson bowed out from the group just prior to the recording session,
leaving the quartet short one female voice. Kate Pierson multi-tracks
her vocal parts to compensate and banters gamely with co-vocalist Fred
Schneider, but it just isn't the B-52's patented, rapid-fire,
three-way exchange.
Still, the Georgian threesome soldiers gamely with its mix of
tackiness and truth, while alternating producers Don Was and Nile
Rodgers keep things danceable throughout.
The group that helped define pop trash aesthetic over the past 15
years -- from Rock Lobster to Love Shack -- remains true to cultural
form with the self-explanatory "Hot Pants Explosion" and the
kidnapped-by-UFOs classic "Is That You Mo-Dean?"
It's also refreshing to find the maturing B-52's, who lend support to
a number of worthy social causes, offering the pro-environment
two-pack of "Revolution Earth and Dreamland." Highlight "Bad
Influence" closes GOOD STUFF, an inspired anthem to non-conformity:
"Break out of the mold before the mold sets in ... Love's a grenade,
I'll pull the pin."
~ Roch Parisien