Dancey? Yes. Pop? No!
The Mint Chicks have made a slight modification to their sound with this 2007 release. While not far from their signature disjointed rhythms and asymetric noise rock of Octagon!Octagon!Octagon!, Crazy? Yes. Dumb? No! provides listeners with something to look forward to: a dance-able refrain. Not to fault the robotic pulses and surging violence of previous albums--one would only have to see the Mint Chicks play one of Wellington's small clubs to understand they give everything for their audience--but to be able to boogie to a Mint Chicks song is a wonderful feeling.
So have the Mint Chicks released a pop album? Absolutely not. Listening to CYDN makes one feel like the passenger in a prop plane caught in a tailspin. One moment there is chaos, and the whole world outside is a tumbling mess of blue and brown. Then suddenly it's clear. The pilot looks at you and grins, his gold teeth catching the sun. For a moment it all makes sense. . . for a moment.
The album begins very much on par with the band's earlier works. The lead track, Occam's Razor surges to life in typical MC form. Yet by the second track, there are signs of a change. While the song, This is Your Last Chance to Be Famous My Love, begins with a storm of drums and guitar, it quickly--and suddenly, which is how the Mint Chicks like to move--shifts time. The rest of the album plays at a similar pace.
Many have said that if you don't like the Mint Chicks the first time you hear them, you never will. If this is true, we believe that Crazy? Yes. Dumb? No! should be the album you hear first. And if the title track doesn't become your summer anthem, then you need to have your iPod confiscated. Seriously. No, seriously. We're not kidding. Hand it over.
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