by: John Soeder

"It was kind of a mistake," admits 10,000 Maniacs bassist Steven Gustafson when asked about the cover of Cat Stevens' Peace Train that appears on his band's breakthrough 1987 album, In My Tribe. "We were strongly urged by the higher-ups within our record label's brain trust to give the song a try for the sake of album sales. We nearly flipped a coin to decide whether or not to do it. As it turned out, the song did help radio programmers realize that we weren't a bunch of lunatics."

Despite their misleading moniker, the Maniacs' sanity is no longer in question. Cat Stevens is another story. Late last year, Stevens publicly supported the late Ayatollah Khomeini's call for the head of Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.

"Stevens is certainly entitled to be a fanatic if he wants to be," says Gustafson. "But now I think he must've been kidding when he wrote that song."

In the wake of Stevens' fall from grace, Gustafson and his bandmates - lead singer Natalie Merchant, guitarist Robert Buck, keyboardist Dennis Drew and drummer Jerome Augustyniak - promptly decided to drop Peace Train from their repertoire. Chances are it won't be missed. The Maniacs' latest release, Blind Man's Zoo, contains more than enough worthy replacements.

"Blind Man's Zoo is definitely our best album to date," says Gustafson. "Everyone is happy with the songwriting and the production. Our playing has grown a lot stronger, too. I still believe, though, that we have yet to write our best song."

If Blind Man's Zoo doesn't deliver the best song of the Maniacs' eight-year career, it certainly provides a strong field of contenders for second place. Trouble Me, Dust Bowl, Eat For Two and Headstrong rank right beside Maniacs gems like My Mother The War, Can't Ignore The Train and Like The Weather. As usual, the band's upbeat melodies create an almost ironic counterpoint to Merchant's sobering lyrics, which address everything from unwanted pregnancy to the Iran/Contra unpleasantness.

"If I were to write any lyrics, they'd be pretty corny," says Gustafson. "Natalie handles all of the lyrics, but I think everyone in the band generally agrees with what she has to say. In a sense, almost all of the new songs deal with betrayal, be it one person betraying another person or a country betraying its citizens. It's a very human thing, and I think it's a theme that everyone in the band can relate to on some level."

According to Gustafson, the title of the new album is taken from a children's game that provides an appropriate metaphor for any individual who is groping for the truth in an absurdly deceptive world. "Blind Man's Zoo is a game that we all played back in school," he explains. "One player is blindfolded, and the other players all mimic animal noises. The blindfolded player has to guess what the animals are. Actually, we almost called the last album Blind Man's Zoo. We've always liked that title, and we've had it around for awhile."

Recorded in an old church near Woodstock, New York, Blind Man's Zoo comes closer than any other Maniacs record to capturing the band's dynamic live sound. "It was a very relaxed atmosphere, and the band was very focused on the material," says Gustafson. "Consequently, the songs didn't take very long to record. This is as close as we've come to recreating our live sound in the studio, although I'm not sure anything outside of a live album will really do us justice."

Gustafson cites the departure of rhythm guitarist John Lombardo in 1986 as the impetus behind a tightening of the Maniacs' sound. Lombardo had been with the band since its club-hopping days and played an invaluable role in shaping the group's first three releases, Human Conflict No. 5, Secrets Of The I Ching and The Wishing Chair.

"When John left, everyone had to pick up the slack," says Gustafson. "It was a big step for the band in that we had to refine our sound and rethink the instrumentation."

While Merchant remains the quintet's most visible member, Gustafson is quick to point out that the Maniacs are more than a gifted vocalist accompanied by a faceless backing unit. "This is a band," he insists. "We've been together for eight years, and our technique gets better every year. Jerry is a very powerful, creative drummer, and I've never heard anyone play guitar like Rob Buck. We all approach our instruments in unique ways that seem to blend well. And we're all really funny looking."

Beyond an extensive North American tour that will bring the Maniacs to Nautica this Saturday night, July 8, Gustafson claims that the band has no set plans for the future.

"Right now we're just concentrating on Blind Man's Zoo and the tour," he says. "It will be at least a year before we get back in the studio, and the way we work, probably two. At any rate, our music will continue to evolve at its own genteel pace."