OMG WTF TMBG
In 1987 or thereabouts, my sister and I were mezmerized by a black and white video on MTV that showed two spastic guys careening around, sometimes with huge pillars on their heads, not to mention the dancing heads of some old guy surrounding them. The guitar player looked like Buddy Holly, the other looked like that sad and tragic guy in black who sat in the back of your English class, except this guy was singing "dippity dog dog a ding dang dippity dippity dippity dog dog a ding dang dippity dippity dip." (Watch that video here.) This was our first introduction to "Don't Let's Start" and the wonder of They Might Be Giants, a love that I have since passed on to my son, whom we affectionately refer to on this blog as "He Might Be Giant".
John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been writing and playing music together since 1982 and show no signs of stopping. They have recorded approximately eight billion songs (a slight exaggeration) and have released many albums, most of which either I or alt-gramma own. We also used to call the Dial-a-Song and listen to the tunes found there - in the olden days, it was rarely busy (although I remember alt-gramma not being happy with the phone bill when we called it several times one summer) but it is apparently now difficult to get through.
When TMBG's latest album The Else was released on May 15, I bought it without even hearing a single track - with TMBG, you know it's going to be good. And I wasn't disappointed. I remarked to alt-gramma when I played it for her in the car that TMBG makes a good rock album - if you leave out the hilariously quirky lyrics and Linnell's kind of nasally voice. But I love TMBG, and if you've never given them a chance, The Else might be a good place to start. Some of the songs are silly (i.e., "The Cap'm", which makes me think of a scruffy Jimmy Buffett parrothead kind of guy), others are simply great rock songs (i.e., "I'm Impressed", "Take Out the Trash"). Others are history lessons, sort of...(i.e., "The Mesopotamians"). Together they are an excellent mix of what TMBG brings to the table.For a limited time, I'll share a couple of tracks from The Else so you can hear the genius of TMBG. If you don't like them at first, listen to them a few more times - they'll grow on you. You should also visit their "artist-owned and operated" website, which is chock-full of goodies and offers a gazillion of their live shows for sale in either mp3 or FLAC. Their semi-official site offers up a free song every week for their mailing list members.
from 2007's The Else:
they might be giants: the cap'm (makes me laugh every time) [buy]
they might be giants: i'm impressed [buy]
from 2004's Indestructible Object:
they might be giants: am i awake? [buy]
from 2002's NO!:
they might be giants: no! [buy]
actual official website | semi-official website | buy all their albums
2 comments:
Great review! I've been a Giants fan since a junior high friend passed off a cassette copy of their self-titled "pink" album. It took me a few listens to get into "The Else," but now I can't get it out of my head.
I just posted a review over at my blog. I'd love to hear your feedback, if you care to check it out:
www.atomicblowtorch.com/?p=234
Thanks so much for your kind words at our site! I'm not sure how much of a "review" I wrote. I was more musing on how much music TMBG put out. I've always been impressed at how prolific they are!
It's great to read the story of how you came to know the band. Your review is way more comprehensive than mine, and way more likely to get someone to check the album out if they hadn't heard the band before. I'm amazed at how much "The Else" has grown on me, even some of the songs I didn't like at first, like "Upside Down Frown." There's just something about the opening line that bugs me, but after that it's super catchy, and a lot like "Save Your Life" from TMBG Unlimited (thanks to some other reviewer I can't recall for pointing that out).
Your site is very impressive! I love the song samples. I'll definitely be coming back to check in. I hope you keep the Atomic Blowtorch somewhere near the back of your bookmark list!
Post a Comment