They Might Be Giants: Chapter One

In the beginning, there were two men named John: John Flansburgh and John Linnell. High school chums, they both moved to Brooklyn in 1981. Eventually, their oddball musical experiments led to something resembling songs, and they began performing to literally dozens of people. Having no rhythm section, they used tape recordings of various samples, drum beats, synths and...well, pretty much any sound they could use. Building a following in the East Village club scene, they eventually got a recording contract. This collection includes both the eponymously titled first album and the Lincoln LP, their second album. It also includes the bonus tracks from their first four EPs (Don't Lets Start, She Was a Hotel Detective, They'll Need a Crane, and Purple Toupee; also collected on Miscellaneous T), and several other bonus tracks accumulated from early recordings, previously only available on Dial-A-Song.

What the heck's a Dial-A-Song?

Funny you should ask that. As an unusual promotional gimmick starting way back in the early days of the band, They Might Be Giants (TMBG to fans, and henceforth in this review) attached an answering machine to a phone line, gave the number out to fans, and placed tapes of songs on the answering machine. Almost 20 years later, they still keep it going (for the curious, the number is 718-387-6962...it is busy most of the time though).

And what's with the name?

They Might Be Giants is the name of an early seventies movie with George C. Scott, about a crazy man who believes he is Sherlock Holmes. The name of that movie is based upon a story element from the novel Don Quixote. Personally, I think that, much like many things the band does, it is an obscure pop culture reference that confuses...well, pretty much everyone.

So what do they sound like?

Gee, now with the tough questions. TMBG is a hard band to categorize, but for the most part, they are a power-pop band with some obvious post-punk and college radio influences. Major progenitors of the group would be The Modern Lovers, Big Star, The Residents, Jonathan Richman's solo work, Robyn Hitchcock, XTC, and Adam and the Ants. To a certain degree, the Replacements (referenced in the song "We're the Replacements") had some influence. Lyrically, they tend toward the humorous and literate. Later recordings include a full band, and exhibit some second wave ska influence.

Touch the Puppet Head...

TMBG's first album, originally recorded on a 4-track, then re-mixed in a real studio, opens with the track "Everything Right is Wrong Again". By the second line of the song, they reference another movie, a Lucille Ball vehicle named "Long, Long Trailor". The curious tape distortion at the mid-point in the song demonstrates their fondness for playing with sound. A bouncy number with a great keyboard bit, and a charming intro to the band.

Next up is "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head". Every bit the funky mid-80's synth based pop number it tries to be, it matches this up with anti-authority lyrics based on one of the strangest metaphors I've ever heard.

"Number Three" is a song about having no other songs left to write. Contained within is a saxophone solo recorded at 45 RPM and played back at 33 1/3. More odd sounds used well.

"Don't Let's Start", is a song about someone not wanting a romance (odd theme for a song). Much more guitar oriented than the preceding songs, it has some great lyrics:

No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful/ Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful/ They want what they're not and I wish they would stop

"Hide Away Folk Family" has a gentle lullaby type theme behind it, while the lyrics have a decidedly more menacing theme to them. The "Astrology Report" in the song is decidedly weird, but still strangely funny.

The next three songs, while not bad, are not particularly worthy of note. Nifty keyboard bits and samples, and odd lyrical references.

"Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes" manages to fit more metaphors into 12 lines than I thought possible. Very drum machine oriented, the clever rhythm helps this song along.

"(She was a) Hotel Detective" begins with a very punk rock "1,2,3,4" leading into a very swing type rhythm (think Stray Cats). I don't think the Hotel Detective is intended to be any crazy metaphor, just a detective. Outside of "Don't Lets Start", the most radio-friendly song on the album.

"She's an Angel" has one of the coolest rhythm tracks I've ever heard, with...well, as close to romantic lyrics on this album:

When you're following an angel/ Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building/ Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead/ Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things

"Youth Culture Killed My Dog" is, at least as far as I can tell, an indictment of the depressing nature of the then-contemporary music, what with the references to Bacharach and all.

The next six songs are mostly pretty short, and mainly seem to be built around producing the strangest sounds possible, matched to equally odd metaphors. Again, not bad, but I can't even begin to figure out the meaning behind "Chess Piece Face". Musically, though, they could be of great interest to fans of such musical deconstructionists as Art of Noise or Aphex Twin.

"Rhythm Section Want Ad", besides obviously being a reference to the band's lack of a rhythm section, is a mockery of all bands trying to fit the latest trends. In retrospect, the fact that TMBG has outlived almost all of them is evidence of this point.

And what else is on Disc #1?

Well, "We're the Replacements", a reference to the mildly successful college radio band of the eighties, was the first song to get the band any substantial press. And there is an alternate, more polka-sounding version of "Kiss Me, Son of God" (later seen on Disc #2). And "Greek #3" is a version of "Number Three" containing the worst pronunciation of Greek in the history of the universe. And, while not a song, the "Critic Intro" is a hilarious introduction the band often used in the early days to introduce themselves. The bonus tracks are pretty much what you expect from B-sides: not bad, but not as good as the original.

I don't want the whole world; I just want your half

On Disc #2, we begin with the contents of TMBG's second album, "Lincoln". Similar sound to the first album, with more accordion.

The first track is "Ana Ng". A classic tale of young love unspoken, told TMBG style, this song has a wonderful musical backbeat, and is, overall, my favorite TMBG song.

"Cowtown" contains a myriad of odd sonic inclusions, both showing the larger budget of the album and the band's desire to do weird stuff in the studio. I have no idea what this song is about (being on tour?), but it sounds good nonetheless.

"Purple Toupee" has perhaps the strangest lyrics in the history of music, even including everything Syd Barrett ever wrote. Many lyrics address the protest movement of the late sixties and the Kennedy assassination, but where exactly does the toupee come into play?

"Cage and Aquarium" gives us more vocal distortion, more bizarre and funny lyrics about paranoia, more odd sounds.

"Where Your Eyes Don't Go" has a jazzy beat and one of the greatest lyrics ever:

Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders/ What the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of

"Mr. Me", a song about disappointment, has a musical accompaniment that is somewhere between a polka and the Davy Crockett theme song. Perky in spite of the "sad" lyrics.

"Pencil Rain", with a pseudo military funereal march sound to it, and more Don Quixote references, is a striking difference from the songs before and after it, which have very bouncy sounds to them. Still quite nice, though. Also one of the longest songs on the album, almost reaching three minutes.

"The World's Address" has a Barry Mannilow/lounge singer vibe to it, and the strange/clever double entendres the song title suggests.

"Santa's Beard" has a keyboard riff similar to J. Geil's "Centerfold", and some impossibly goofy lyrics. TMBG's subsequent album, "Flood", followed more in this respect, with broad comedy rather than irony. Admittedly, this did work to their advantage, so I can't criticize them too much for this.

"You'll Miss Me" has some distinctively big band sound to it, and a touch of Mancini thrown in, for good measure. Great lyrics, as well:

Your money talks but my genius walks/ Morticians wait with a shovel and fork/ As detectives trace my hands with chalk

For a song about death, it has a lot of humor about it.

"They'll Need a Crane" is fun and pleasant, and definitely radio-friendly. One of the few somewhat straightforward songs on "Lincoln", it is likeable and the vocal stylings will be familiar to fans of later recordings.

"Stand On Your Own Head" has an oddly "Hee-Haw" vibe to it, and the hook is quite likeable. Not among the best of the disc, but good, regardless.

"Snowball in Hell" sounds a lot like a blues song channeled through a polka band. I don't know how to describe it. The song also has one of the most memorable lyrics of any TMBG song:

If it wasn't for disappointment/ I wouldn't have any appointments

With the punk-style theme of criticizing people working for money, this very TMBG-style song is quite nice.

Of course, "Kiss Me, Son of God", is one of the definitive songs of the TMBG catalog. Another anti-authority song, this version (versus the one on Disc #1) is less polka sounding and more lounge singer sounding.

The bonus tracks on Disc #2 aren't quite as good as on Disc #1, but there are still some good bits in there. "It's Not My Birthday" is engaging and fun-sounding. "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" sounds a bit too derivative of their other songs, but is otherwise good. "Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal", has a wonderful eighties keyboard riff and depressingly true to life lyrics about radio stations only playing songs they are told to play. A true classic.

The Dial-A-Song contributions on Disc #2 are, unfortunately rather poorly produced and recorded to disc. On the other hand, hearing an earlier version of "Which Describes How You're Feeling" gives some insight to the band's production style (apparently, somewhat widely disparate). And hearing a bunch of schoolchildren perform "Particle Man" is sugary sweet enough for 10 albums.

So, what do you think of the album?

I'm glad you asked that. Since this album collects much of the work of a band over the course of several years, not all of it is necessarily great. Some work has poor production values, and some songs are just not as good as the others. Over the course of "Then: The Earlier Years", you will hear 72 tracks on two CDs, encompassing a grand total of about 130 minutes. With that many songs, a few are bound to be less than perfect.

However, about 90% of the album is quite good, and the band's remarkable daring in doing such sonic experimentation is to be commended. Some songs contained within have remained in the back of my head for many years, and even the weaker tracks contain bits of music I can't forget. This is an essential album for fans of experimental music, the early stages of alternative rock, or the lighter side of the post-punk movement; it is also a worthwhile purchase for the casual fan of eighties synth-rock, or fans of music in general.

Despite the generally humorous nature of TMBG's songs, they are far from being a mere novelty act. Especially in the earlier work contained on these CDs, TMBG produced cleverly written lyrics combined with their remarkable sonic approach. Perhaps a bit too much for one listen, those who only know the band from the "Malcolm in the Middle" theme song will be amazed at the exotic brilliance they brought to 1980's music.

Minorthreat78 would like to thank you for reading what is quite possibly the longest Epinion in history.