This week The Barenaked Ladies sent shockwaves through the Canadian nerd rock scene with news that Steven Page, lead singer and noted cocaine enthusiast, would be leaving the group.  From their humble beginnings as the subversive rabble rousers of the indie music scene, this is far from the first time the Ladies have rocked the Can-con cultural landscape.  Known for their politically charged lyrics (“I just made you say underwear”) and anti-hipster posturing (they’re dorks), the Ladies have waged a two-decade assault on conservative Canadian values.  A look back:

1991 – The group is banned from performing at Nathan Phillips Square as then-Toronto mayor June Rowlands feels their name objectifies women.  Their 1996 album Rock Spectacle features a song called “Jane”, which no one has ever suggested was actually about June Rowlands.

1992 – The release of their debut album, Gordon, marked a new dawn of scathing political satire in Canadian pop.  Through various songs they attacked the school system (“Grade 9”), distribution of wealth (“If I had $1,000,000”), and the concept of enjoyable music (“Be My Yoko Ono”).

1996 – BNL join forces with fellow Canadian radical Jason Priestley when he directs the band’s video for the hit “My Old Apartment.”  They would later appear on the television series Beverly Hills 90210, a documentary about Priestley’s hair.

1998 – The Ladies release their fifth album, Stunt, featuring the song “Never Is Enough.”  The song mocks teens and twenty-something Canadians for participating in such clichéd activities as backpacking across Europe, spending summers tree-planting, and listening to The Barenaked Ladies.

2008 – The band hits the front page again when Steven Page is charged with cocaine possession.  The public is outraged (as the arrest comes just two months after the release of the BNL children’s record) and the band actually seems cool for about 15 minutes.

And now this, the biggest blow of all.  With their lead singer and primary songwriter on his way out the future of the band is far from certain.  The possibility exists, though I am loathe to speak it, that we may have seen the last of these courageous trailblazers.  That, ladies and gentlemen, may be the scariest proposition of all.