Dicks, futuristic suicide, swamp monsters, skulls and the headless.
The new They Might Be Giants album, 'Join Us', has finally arrived.
As usual, years of writing and performing children's music has helped John Flansburgh and John Linnell return to the rock scene with a cast of dark and intriguing new characters. Produced by the band and their long time producer, Pat Dillett, 'Join Us' is lacking the freshness and perspective that the Dust Brothers lent to their last rock album, 'The Else', but, for some fans, this might be a welcome return.
But I don't really think so.
Can't Keep Johnny Down
Upbeat, energetic album opener, the first of many "unreliable narrators" on this album. Even though I spent, literally, hours, with this song, it still hasn't clicked with me. Catchy, but not great. A lot of people seem to like it though, so who am I to judge?
You Probably Get That A Lot
Cephalophores. This song is about cephalophores. Or, more specifically, a girl who stands out among "millions of cephalophores". Why? Is her head attached to her body? What comment, exactly, is it that she probably gets a lot? This is one I'd love to ask Mr. Linnell about. One thing is for sure: it's pure They Might Be Giants, adding a new character to the ranks of TMBG's Cavalcade of Weirdoes : Look out Rabid Child, move over Mr. Horrible...here come the Headless Horseman's associate, the Bodiless Baboonsman.
Brilliant.
Old Pine Box
Am I missing something or is this track really as boring as it seems?
It sounds like an indifferent protest song, or, in the world of They Might Be Giants, a podcast b-side at best.
Canajoharie
One of my favorites. Say hello to another unreliable narrator; this one seems to have been a victim of some close encounter in the swamps of upstate New York...if you believe him that is. Sadly, "someone changed the truth" and "smoked the proof" about what really happened to him in the town of Canajoharie. But I think we can trust him...he's not insane, or so he keeps insisting. This song has a strong Lovecraftian feel. And it's about damn time, if you ask me.
Cloisonné
At first listen (when the four track EP was released at the end of April), this track seemed intentionally random, like Flansburgh was trying a little too hard to reclaim that old They Might Be Giants feel. While I'm still not 100% convinced that that isn't the case, I've come to enjoy it and its voice, the persnickety vocals and fun horn break down at the end. Not a stand out track, but it grows on you. I will say I enjoy it less now that Flansburgh has explained, in no uncertain terms, what a Sleestak is.
Let Your Hair Hang Down
At first, this track didn't do much for me, it felt...dusty, uninteresting, but, once you get into it, the vague 60's feel and warm melody works. It's about letting go, living with the things you can't change. Perhaps I should take a cue from this one and stop being so critical of They Might Be Giants... It's a sweet song and the interplay of both Johns' vocals work very well.
Celebration
A staticy, robotic intro gets your attention at once and the meat of the song has a great sort of summery feel to it, letting the listener know that Banksey has informed Anonymous (via a Post-It Note) that the after party is now at your house...but...then the chorus comes in. God damn this chorus. The song goes from a solid TMBG joint to everything that was wrong with cheesy wedding bands from the 80's: tinny, disco ht-hat and a "hoot along" section that sound vaguely like the horns from "Extra Savoir-Faire". If Flans was trying to be ironic, he didn't go far enough. I can't think of any other song by They Might Be Giants that's this disparate. It would be impressive if the chorus weren't so astoundingly irritating.
In Fact
After a blazing, sassy horn intro, Flans gets a bit Tex-Mex with this one, using a jouncy, boot-scootin' bass and drum line and some south-of-the-boarder trumpets to express just how much of a mess he is, or, I should say, the character he's portraying: yet another unreliable narrator. Unfortunately, this track ends about thirty seconds too soon after an amazing beach party breakdown. A climax without a dénouement is a sad thing.
When Will You Die
Another favorite. A hyperactively cheerful beat, rife with shining horn riffs, paired with lyrics that center around John Linnell, not an unreliable narrator played by John Linnell, but half of the core of They Might Be Giants John Linnell wondering out loud "when will you die". "This is Dan/And that's Dan/And there's Marty on the drums/To complete the band/And I'm John and he is also John /And all of us are wondering when you're gonna die." I can only hope this will become a staple on their "Join Us" tour and that Linnell will actually indicate each band member as they are mentioned. They Might Be Giants used to joke about their penchant for pairing upbeat music with dark lyrics (see "Don't Let's Start"), but I think this might take the taco. True, it lacks a certain subtlety, but it's too fun to bother me much. Bravo gentlemen, bravo.
Protagonist
This is an interesting concept, if not a terribly interesting song. There are two voices in this, one the tentative, plaintive voice of an actor not getting his time on screen (although he places the blame firmly on himself) and one of a brusque, no-nonsense stage manager, actually reading stage directions and the like as if from a script. The music feels perfect for a lemonade commercial, somewhat reminiscent of "My Blue Heaven". I enjoy the "meta-song" feeling of this one.
Judy Is Your Viet Nam
A short and sweet rocker courtesy of Flans. It's a bit by-the-numbers, not overly catchy or pioneering, but not bad. Flans can put together a great rock song when he tries, just take a listen to "Sleeping In The Flowers", "Cyclops Rock", "Twistin'" or "Take Out The Trash", but this just isn't one of them. I think the idea and title of the song is better than the song itself.
Never Knew Love
I feel like this track can be compared to "Pet Name" from Factory Showroom or, more aptly, "Another First Kiss" from Mink Car. It's a solid song, Marty Beller delivers some nice drums on it, but it doesn't do much to grab the listener. There's a reason that this song made me nervous as a quarter of the album's preview EP.
The Lady and The Tiger
This may be my favorite track on the album. The music is simple, dark and compelling, vaguely medieval; a series of notes played in a round on various instruments while John and John take on the characters of The Lady Or The Tiger? from Frank R. Stockton's grade school, English class staple that introduced to us the concept of an open ended story. The idea of these two famous yet completely unexplored literary characters having this dialogue is at once brilliantly hilarious and thought provoking. The addition of the Lady's ability to shoot lasers from her eyes is pretty rad too. I hope to see this live come the 29th.
Spoiler Alert
Like "Protagonist", the concept of this song is more interesting than the song itself; style over content. The uninspired beat slowly fades in and then, in the left channel, we have Flans playing an exhausted (maybe drunk) guy who's convinced "this truck could drive itself" and, in the right, Linnell, a man writing the last page of his book who admits that he "shouldn't be typing while (he's) driving". Eventually, we hear Flans decide that the truck really can drive itself and that he should lie back and close his eyes while the last thing we hear before Stan Harrison's smooth Jazz flute solo fades the song out is Linnell saying "some kind of trouble up ahead...what the hell?" I understand that the music had to not stand out in order for the listener to get what was going on, and this is a fun one, but it could have gone further; maybe have the two channels start to come together or something along those lines. Whatever the case, an interesting idea that didn't seem to really pan out in execution. Could be fun live though...
Dog Walker
This one feels more Mono Puff than They Might Be Giants. Anyone who didn't get that reference probably isn't reading this, so, let's continue. The song starts with a cool, over-processed drum beat which is soon overlaid by a simple guitar riff which repeats throughout the song and gets old pretty quick, and in a two and a half minute song, that's saying something. Flans has some effect on his voice to make him sound small and whiny, a statement, I suppose, about his feelings towards dog walkers. The unreliable narrator this time around is, in fact, a dog walker, one whose "mind is a wrecking ball" and who will, one day, "wreck all y'all". I used to be a dog walker. I didn't really want to kill everybody, but, even if I did, this still wouldn't be that good of a song. Sorry, Flans.
2082
I'm not able to listen to this without thinking of two things. First, an old TMBG t-shirt listing their 2040 tour dates (with gigs in London, Sweden, Glasgow, Sweden, Hard Rock, Sea of Tranquility, Moon and the Bacteria Dome, Mars) and which had drawings of John and John (Flans in a wheelchair playing a guitar and Linnell clutching his accordion while attached to an IV drip). Second, that this is Linnell's answer to Flansburgh's "The World Before Later On" from their 2004 album, The Spine. It would also make a great episode of Futurama. This track is sillier (and darker) than "The World Before Later On", featuring a funky, faux-futuristic sound and lyrics involving smothering your future-self with a pillow. Linnell's overly serious delivery adds the perfect touch to make this a wonderful addition to TMBG's catalog...of songs about time travel and murder.
Three Might Be Duende
I'm going to be completely honest with you. I have no idea what is going on in this song. A bouncy, jaunty melody provides a fitting background for lyrics that...well...remember how I said "Cloisonné" was trying too hard? This one feels real, no question. Flansburgh creates for us a strange, wonderful and vaguely Grecian-sounding world in this song, introducing four more additions to the ranks of TMBG characters, namely the Monochrome Martinet, Necropolis Blownapart (played by David Driver of The Loser's Lounge and People Are Wrong fame), Apocryphal Espadrille (which, literally speaking, means the "legendary leather slipper") and Dystopio Smashedtobits. The three latter seem to have some connection and are those that "might be duende". This track is intriguing as hell. If there were more to the music, this might rank as a return to form for They Might Be Giants. I'm looking forward to hearing the band's response to questions about this one.
You Don't Like Me
Much like "Let Your Hair Hang Down", this song didn't click with me at first. The harmonies didn't quite match up and I didn't really get what the Johns were going for. The listing of things that "you" like gets old, but remains puzzling. The song seems to be about a narrator, reliable for once, but only because "(he) can read your mind" and knows that "you" don't like him. I'm still not sure if this one will continue to grow on me or if this just isn't a fully fleshed out idea. The choice of vocals works for me though, expressing a touch of unease.
'Join Us', while not as immediately engaging as 2007's "The Else", does have a few gems on it. More often than not, the musical choices aren't that interesting, deferring to straight up guitar, drums and bass on the majority of the tracks. As far as I can tell, Linnell only plays accordion on two of the eighteen songs. But, that's the upside to having eighteen tracks (as opposed to the original line up of only fourteen): If you don't like seven tracks on a fourteen track album, that's half; if you don't like seven on an eighteen track album, there's still eleven that might work for you. When a band puts out an eighteen track album, I'm fine with the fact that only three songs break the three minute mark. It's just math.
While this isn't the best They Might Be Giants album ever, it's not the toilet explosion I feared it would be based on the aforementioned preview EP. I'll go further and say there is some really solid, classic tmbgness on here.
Thank goodness.
It'll be fun to see which become fixtures in their live show.
As far as what's next, I think the best thing that can happen for TMBG's music (and for their fans over the age of 10) is for the band to stay away from Disney. Yes, it might hurt their wallets, but the fact that each one of their adult albums since 2004 has been interspersed by corporate mandated kid's pap means that they don't really have the ability to focus on themselves as an adult rock band; that they keep getting distracted and have to reset themselves and their mindsets. I feel as if that's been a big issue since they started this whole dual fanbase career. It would be interesting to see what they could come up with if they didn't have to worry about cranking out Here Comes Geography in 18 months.
Already some of the songs I wasn't sure about are starting to grow on me and, while each track isn't its own musical world, they're all They Might Be Giants and that's what matters.
I could make some stupid joke involving the phrase "join us", but I'd rather leave that up to each and every other person interviewing the band and reviewing this album and simply tell you that, if you're a TMBG fan, you should check this album out.
Stick with it, because you might not love every track at first, but you'll start to dig them the more you listen.
The go see them on tour and revel in their glory, because, whether or not you like 'Join Us', they always put on a great show.
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