CRASH
Dave Matthews Band
* * * *
RCA Records

A couple of years back, the Dave Matthews Band innocently asked "What Would You Say?" and captured a couple Grammy nominations for that catchy song. In addition, they nabbed an army of admirers who bought millions of their album, "Under the Table and Dreaming."
On his new disc "Crash," in stores today, Dave asks no questions and tells no lies while delivering a poetic and brutally honest collectoin that manages to sound uplifting as he frets over sardom, excess, loneliness, and even love.
Much like "Under the Table," "Crash" is a mix of Matthews' descriptive lyrics and the band's unusual guitar, horn, and fiddle arrangements. Producer Steve Lillywhite, best known for his work with U2, allowed the band to be themselves and did most of his musical tinkering by accenting the melodies with interesting percussion beats. It's best exemplified in the triangle solo and a whistled close on the song "Let You Down," the disc's syncopated plea for fogiveness.
Matthews has an unusal vocal style that's hypnotic as it slides and swerves through his wide range, making difficult octave jumps sound easy. But where he distinguishes himself is his poet's sense of language and rhythm.
That knack for rhythm is most apparent on "Two Step" where he sings very slowly to a 200-beat-a-minute Marty Robbins-style western percussion. The contrast between D.M.'s slow-poke delivery and the rapid-fire drumming in "Two Step" makes it one of the disc's strongest tracks.
Of the 12 songs on the collection, 10 are excellent and should make "Crash" ripe for multiple single releases geared to radio. Most of the dozen are brand-new songs, while a couple will be familiar to fans as material the band has been playing for years in its concert repertoire.
The best of those is "Tripping Billies," where fiddler Boyd Tinsley gets to shine as he saws through his violin in a rocker that's strongly influenced by hoedown bluegrass. Tinsley is also outstnading on "Lie in Our Graves," making one wonder why the violin is such an underused lead instrument in pop.
This is such a strong disc that it's hard to choose the album's best number. For long-time fans, there are a few tunes that sport the unmistakable Dave Matthews Band signature and sound as if they were lifted off the last disc. For me, the DMB does its best work on "Proudest Monkey," the last track of the disc.
Like any good story, this one has layered meanings. At its most basic, it's a parable about growing up, about how life is easy at first and gets harder as we go along. When ou read the song with Dave M. in the role of the hero monkey, it reveals a longing for the simple times before stardom.
For "Monkey," the arrangement is very basic - fat guitar notes against a powerful bass line. It recalls arrangements that the Talking Heads used, especially in their "Speaking in Tongues" era.
This is the kind of album that is immediately likeable for its catchy pop hooks. But what will eventually give this disc the classic status it deserves is the power of the writing and the band's extremely tight musicianship. It's gentle, yet avoids sounding like old-age jazz or new-age mush.