When I first looked at the track list on Mark Berube's 2005 CD Suspicious Fish, my mind filled with the dread of facing a sophomoric, Wierd Al experience. And while some of these tracks don't quite rise to the stellar musical and creative levels of other more accomplished novelty acts such as Ween or They Might Be Giants ("Body Farm" and "Grandma Gave Me the Finger" are groaners), other tracks come closer. For instance, "Your Big But" goes far beyond the immediate gag of the title and employs clever lyrics and a great tune to create a wholly original song about the lame excuses people give to one another to forestall intimacy. It is a jewel. Another good track, "The Look on Your Face," features 800-point SAT verbal vocabulary sprinkled into a commentary on network news and how it sucks. When's the last time you heard "syllogism" used in a song? Anyone? Anyone? Thought so. "The Naked Guy at the Gym" is sheer genius; for all us regular worker-outers, the locker room lurkers are an omnipresent bother and having a song to sing in my head when in their presence will no doubt help laugh the situation off next time. "Always the Same" is a unique take on the perils of love. "I can't tell if you're really being serious or not" is a lyric from that track, and it may be a listener's reaction to this record. But I have to believe that, given the production value, the musicality, the creativity of the lyrics, that Berube is dead serious. With liberal doses of both electric and acoustic guitar, harmonica, upright bass and banjo, this record sounds a little country-fried at times. Most of the numbers are pleasant, poppy and straightforward with only "Come Undone" (not the Duran Duran song, mind you) really rocking out. Mark Berube's work reminds us that not all clever rhymes are in rap music today, and that humor can be a powerful force for telling a unique and serious musical story. I laughed. I cried. It's better than Cats.

I've been getting off on Mark's live performances for years and always wondered if his rapid fire energy could successfully translate to a produced album. Wow! After you finally stop laughing, catch your breath and go back for the third fourth and fifth listen, you realize that these are well crafted songs that go way beyond the "funny" category. Most of them are, of course funny and I enjoy singing along to "Grandma Gave Me the Finger" as much as the next guy, but THIS IS REALLY GOOD STUFF and anybody who's been mourning the death of intelligent songwriting will take heart.