I was surprised to see Crash Test Dummies on the list of new releases this past Tuesday. Oooh La La is the first studio album from the Canadian folk rockers since 2004, a project that got underway in 2008 with producer Stewart Lerman (Antony and the Johnsons, The Roches).

In 1994, Crash Test Dummies broke big in the U.S. (and the world) with their sophomore album, God Shuffled His Feet. The success of that multi-platinum effort was largely due to a little ditty called “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” that was damn near inescapable in 1994, thanks to an inventive chorus sans lyrics.

Crash Test Dummies, of course, just as quickly collided with a fickle public. So while “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” spent a week at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in the spring of 1994, and went on to hit #4 on the Hot 100, no other subsequent single came close to matching the song’s sky-high success (though really, “Afternoons & Coffeespoons” was even better, perhaps a topic for another time).

Today “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” (which also went platinum) makes many “worst-of” lists, as cooler-than-thou critics desire to distance themselves now from what was and still remains a pretty catchy tune. Hear here:

Purchase Crash Test Dummies – “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.