Fans of the Crash Test Dummies don’t need any more words than “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” to recognize the top 1990s’ hit from the band. What they might not know is that Brad Roberts, the Canadian-based alt/rock band’s founder, has revived the group after a six-year hiatus.
If you go
Crash Test Dummies with Rob Morsberger
Where: Jammin Java, 227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Info: $20, seated show; 703-255-1566; jamminjava.com
“I dread it, but also for the first time in my life can embrace it as well,” said Roberts of touring behind the band’s new album, “Oooh La La!” “What we did worked and I’m astonished by that.” Although Crash Test Dummies made its name moving between such divergent forms as folk and electronic, with its new album, the band has again changed directions, this time using children’s toys — specifically the Optigan made by Mattel in the 1970s — as the basis for the band’s new sound.
“I ran into a guy who played it for me and I was feeling stale musically so I thought this is a good way to recharge my batteries, playing this instrument,” Roberts said. “Thank God for eBay. … They were only made for a couple of years and they really are one of a kind.”
Here’s a mini history lesson about the toy: The Optigan projects the sounds of other instruments with keys that triggers chords and individual notes. It comes with discs, which include such formats as “Nashville,” “Swing It!” and “Guitar Boogie” — and produce sounds something akin to a rudimentary version of today’s digital sampling.
Roberts bought a few of the Optigan and other similar toys, then teamed with co-writer and producer Stewart Lerman, well known for his work with the Roches and Antony & the Johnsons, to use the instruments to write the 11 songs that made it to the album.
“That’s what unleashed the creativity,” Roberts said. “We all get into habits with our writing, I think, and when you play on these instruments [such as this], they go places where you wouldn’t have though to go. I had never written a big-band song before and I put in the disc for big band and [wrote one].”
Now touring as an acoustic trio, Roberts said the band’s upcoming concerts feature “boiled down” versions of the songs but that doesn’t lessen the appeal of those songs.
“We use the original chords and melodies. That is not actually a challenge, I’m finding, because the songs really are there,” he said. “They stand up by themselves. I’m actually looking forward to playing them live.”
