Bruce McCulloch – Drunk Baby Project
(Tront Communication)

I remember the first time I heard a Bruce McCulloch song. He was still in Kids in the Hall at the time, yet the first time I heard “Daves I Know” came from the Northern Pikes of “She aint pretty” fame, as they covered the song in the fields of Club Roma on tour with the Watchmen. I was 12 or so and I watched it from my roof.

I knew then that I heard something special. Bruce McCulloch, as mentioned, is the Kids in the Hall alumni who has spent his years since the breakup doing shorts for Saturday Night Live and directing the films “Dog Park”, “Stealing Harvard” and “Superstar”. Those projects had mixed results. His music side projects on the other hand, are much more noteworthy.

Bruce had another album in 1996 called “Shame Based Man” on Atlantic Records which is another favorite of mine, and includes the “Daves I know” track along with several other great tunes. “Drunk Baby Project” will be well received by KITH diehards like myself who really miss their dark, clever and absurd humor.

To sum up Bruce’s music for a modern audience, picture Tenacious D meets the Doors. Or those beat-poetry-set-to-music pieces that Mike Myers did for “So I Married An Axe Murderer”. And of course, recall “Daves I Know” which was a moderate hit, and recall the songs Bruce fronted as Greevo, lead singer of Death Lurks, for the “Brain Candy” soundtrack. Yeah, its like that. The music itself ranges from good to very good, and can stand on its own in only a way that the D have been able to do thus far. Surely this is no Sam Kinison rock record, and thank Jebus for that.

Bruce sings of being treated as a science project in the albums title track, to “keep those tipsy toddlers alive.” and furthermore: “Drunk babies shouldnt drive!” Bruce can write monologues with the best of them, and his delivery is what truly makes it funny. On the album, Bruce can sympathize with what young Bob Seger must have went through, what its really like to participate in “the making of love” with some serious vigor, how to read the Bible, and what the laugh track on bad comedy shows really means, for all of us.

“The Bible” and “Lil’ Gay Waiter” are faster songs, both twangy and yet full of rock, but the best tracks for me are the slower ones driven by a story. McCulloch’s lines about the battle for supremacy between the Clinique ladies and the Body Shop girls get funnier with each listen, with the climax of hilarity rearing its head sometime around when Foot Locker Ron steps into the fray.

The only song that doesnt really work for me is “Cheer For The Team”. The song has a really good crunchy riff that actually outdoes McCulloch’s point. And as much as I always liked Bruces KITH performance of “The Hangover Chronicles”, it wasnt really all that necessary to include it. Perhaps there was just a fan demand for this to hit record, or perhaps Bruce was using up old material to fill space. I don’t know. Its good, but… whatever.

“Drunk Baby Project” really is one of the best releases I’ve heard in a while, and one that I’m sure I’ll listen to over and over, just like “Shame-Based Man”. Just as Bruce says on “For the Ladies” – Stick it inside! — Goon

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