A review of They Might Be Giants' "Join Us" preview EP

Today, April 26th, was declared by They Might Be Giants as "TMBG Awareness Day".

If only they had picked a day they weren't releasing their sub-par "preview EP" for their album, "Join Us", coming out in July.

 

Can't Keep Johnny Down

This first track from the album was released on Pitchfork.com a few weeks ago and, although it gets better with repeated listens, especially if you have the lyrics in front of you, it suffers from the malady that's plagued seemingly all TMBG songs since the early 00's: a severe and noticeable lack of substance.

Songs feel a verse or two shy, whether that's because the quality of writing has gone down or they're putting less effort into their work, it's a disturbing and disappointing trend which (apparently) continues into this new decade with 'Join Us'.

"Can't Keep Johnny Down" isn't a bad song, but it isn't going to replace anyone's favorite TMBG track any time soon.

 

Cloisonné

Intentional randomness is not the same as randomness.

Not making your song rhyme because not rhyming is random is not a good reason for your song not to rhyme.

Flans is just trying way too hard on this one, and it shows.

I like the horns at the end though...bouncy...and the "What's a sleestak?" repetition.

I think this might be the strongest song of the four and that's kind of a bummer.

 

Never Knew Love

A bland, adult contemporary-esque song about love and its benefits and perils.

I dig Linnell's stuff on this, as spare as it is, but the Flans part sounds SO MUCH like a Flans part that my brain keeps trying to figure out what song he's singing, sure I've heard it before.

Musically, it's as safe as houses though, like "Johnny" and "Pine Box", which makes me wonder where these "sharp left turns" and "insane" parts are that Flans been yammering about for a year plus.

 

Old Pine Box

I've never been happier about a TMBG song clocking in at under two minutes.

Short and boring.

The only interesting part is a creepy vocoder interlude...which lasts 12 seconds before the yawn returns, first verse repeats and the song ends.

Pointless.

 

I wonder if John and John ever finish a song and then see it's only 1:53 and say, "hey, maybe we should do another verse?"

Or "hey, this sounds like something we'd release for free on a podcast as filler, let's not put this on an album."

Or "hey, this is fucking boring."

My very first thought after listening to all four songs (in the nine plus minutes it took me to do so) was: Maybe the other ten will be good.

If the first four are any indication, the answer, sadly, is: most likely not.