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vovatI've gotten a chance to listen to The Else a few times now, so I might as well offer some of my thoughts on it. And since it IS a They Might Be Giants album, I'm going to take my usual route of reviewing it song by song.
I'm Impressed - As you might recall I said a few weeks ago, this song seems to have a more obvious political component than most of their work. While the song doesn't have to be about Bush, some of the lines seem to fit him so well that I would have trouble believing John Linnell didn't at least have him in the back of his mind when writing this. But even removing the current President from the equation, it's pretty political anyway. As for the sound, it's a good mix of traditional TMBG and the fuzzier sound that predominates on this record, and hence a good way to kick off the album.
Take Out The Trash - Is this the least TMBG-ish song that TMBG has done? Really, it's making me re-evaluate "Mr. Xcitement" in that respect. Usually when the Johns cover an everyday topic like a failing relationship, they add some kind of lyrical trick to remind you that, yes, this is still the same band that does the songs about skulls, mimicking scarecrows, and Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Here, the only metaphor to be had is even more mundane than the subject matter, and the whole thing comes off as rather generic. On the positive side, it definitely wins some points for sheer catchiness. And I guess John Flansburgh has built up enough art-rock credence that he can do a mainstream-sounding song every once in a while. But I can pretty much guarantee that this isn't going to be appearing on any TMBG mixes I might make.
Upside Down Frown - While I like this one increasingly more every time I hear it, it still kind of gives me the impression that Linnell was going through the motions with this one. The lyrics are kind of...I don't know, not weird enough? Sort of an odd complaint, I suppose, but it seems like it could have been better with more creative word-twisting. I think the best part about this one is the harmonizing between the two Johns.
Climbing The Walls - An immediate standout on the album. The sound is really cool, especially the organ part. The lyrics are pretty much classic TMBG, working various references to insanity into something new. Sure, they've done better songs in this vein, but it's still a quality effort.
Careful What You Pack - So soft in its sound that it's difficult to really pay attention to, but I do like the music, which reminds me of something they'd play in old video games. While it hasn't really grabbed me yet, I think it has definite potential to grow on me.
The Cap'm - I'd say this one is just plain fun. The rhyming structure is kind of weird, going from simple rhymes to sorta-but-not-really-rhymes ("Cap'm" with "laughing," "boat" with "don't") to not rhyming at all (the bit about the helm and the button). But maybe that's part of its charm.
With The Dark - It has a lot of sudden shifts in style, giving the impression of a bunch of song fragments combined into one, yet it still works as a cohesive whole. I keep getting parts of it stuck in my head, but not really remembering how they fit into the song. The "I'm getting tired of all my nautical themes" bit (adapted somewhat from "Puppets Gonna Fuck You Up") makes it appropriate that it follows "The Cap'm" in sequence. There are quite a few TMBG songs that use nautical themes, though, so it works as a general meta-reference as well. Probably my favorite Flans-penned song on the album.
The Shadow Government - I think this one might have worked better when I heard it live, but it's still pretty good here. It's really a quintessentially Flansburghian song, what with the title and the ska sound. It's an interesting twist (why am I using that word so much in this review?) that the shadow government is something the narrator is longing for rather than fearing.
Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth - Kind of the opposite of the first sentence about the last song, I didn't think much of this when I heard it live, but I like it here. I think that's largely because it's very lyrically oriented, and it's easier to concentrate on lyrics when listening in the comfort of your own home. I'm not sure there's really any meaning to them, but when they contain clever phrases like "send a tangerine-colored nuclear submarine" and "head lice under hats lie in the headlights everywhere," I don't know that there needs to be.
Withered Hope - While the last song really doesn't seem to make any sense, the lyrics here are the kind that don't necessarily make sense at first, but start to when you realize that the nouns are essentially placeholders for people. That's not to say that there isn't some significance to them (Withered Hope in particular sounds like she'd be the kind of girl who writes angsty, brooding poetry), but, well, not too many other songwriters would use "a picture in a book of a beautiful crook" as a character. I do have to wonder why Withered Hope and the Very Sad Sack are referred to by gender-specific pronouns, while the Motorbike isn't. If I were to rank the songs on the album (and I don't know that I will), this one would be pretty high up there.
Contrecoup - This was written in response to a challenge to Linnell to write a song using some obscure words picked out by a radio host. When I first heard it, I thought it was really cool that Linnell could pull such a thing off, but I didn't really think the song was album-worthy. I was pleasantly surprised to find it really does work as an album track, although the difference in sound is kind of jarring. The liner notes indicate that about half of the songs were produced by the Dust Brothers and the others half by TMBG and Pat Dillett, but I think there was a definite effort to make the sound pretty consistent throughout. This, on the other hand, sounds more minimal in its production, which isn't a bad thing, but makes it an odd fit. Maybe it would have worked better if it had been in an earlier spot on the album. I don't know.
Feign Amnesia - You know, I like this song when I hear it, but I can barely remember it afterwards. It think it's being overshadowed by the more noticeable songs surrounding it. As of now, I'd probably place it in the average category, but that's average as far as TMBG goes, not in terms of music in general. Actually, listening to it again, this song kind of reminds me of something the New Pornographers would do, although I'm sure they'd make it longer and more intricately arranged.
The Mesopotamians - Linnell continues his trend from "I'm Impressed" of addressing the current political climate by writing a song about Iraq. Only, due to a case of temporal confusion, it's about Iraq several thousand years ago. Seriously, though, it's the theme song for a non-existent band (shades of the Young Fresh Fellows, perhaps?), but with the added bonus that it's made up of ancient Mesopotamian rulers. (And yet I'll bet the Johns are still going to claim not to be nerds in future interviews.) It's a lot of fun, and a better way to end the album than the low-key tracks that close out their last two non-children's albums.
As of my first few listens, I'd say it's probably better than Mink Car, but not as good as The Spine. I'm not even going to try to compare it to the earlier albums at this point. The fact that I got the first six all in pretty close succession when I first became a fan gives them a legendary quality that's hard to measure the new stuff against. One thing I think The Else is lacking is a song like "Hovering Sombrero" or "Museum Of Idiots" (or, for that matter, even "Birdhouse In Your Soul") where the surface silliness belies some sweetness and depth of emotion. The majority of songs here seem to be of the paranoid schizophrenic unreliable narrator variety. That is, of course, an integral part (perhaps even THE integral part) of TMBG's lyric-writing, but it kind of gives the impression of the Johns sitting down and saying, "Hey, we're the guys who write songs about paranoia and brain damage, right?", and then specifically addressing those topics. I've seen several people criticize TMBG for trying to sound too much like their old selves on their new songs, but the same people would probably also complain if they started sounding too DIFFERENT from their old selves. Maybe it's just that the early songs sound kind of like they just poured right out of the Johns' minds, while the weirdness on their more recent work often comes across as more strained and deliberate. It's also interesting that this album is so Linnell-heavy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since I tend to prefer his songs anyway, but you'd think they'd want it to be a little more even, especially with the well-below-average number of songs. Oh, well. Overall, I liked the album more than I expected to, which is good, right?
Since I don't want to stay up long enough to type up a song-by-song review of the bonus disc, I'll have to save that for another post. Stay tuned!
Oh, and I keep forgetting to acknowledge people's birthdays, so happy belated birthday to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aliste, eagledna, and dragonxbait.
I'm Impressed - As you might recall I said a few weeks ago, this song seems to have a more obvious political component than most of their work. While the song doesn't have to be about Bush, some of the lines seem to fit him so well that I would have trouble believing John Linnell didn't at least have him in the back of his mind when writing this. But even removing the current President from the equation, it's pretty political anyway. As for the sound, it's a good mix of traditional TMBG and the fuzzier sound that predominates on this record, and hence a good way to kick off the album.
Take Out The Trash - Is this the least TMBG-ish song that TMBG has done? Really, it's making me re-evaluate "Mr. Xcitement" in that respect. Usually when the Johns cover an everyday topic like a failing relationship, they add some kind of lyrical trick to remind you that, yes, this is still the same band that does the songs about skulls, mimicking scarecrows, and Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Here, the only metaphor to be had is even more mundane than the subject matter, and the whole thing comes off as rather generic. On the positive side, it definitely wins some points for sheer catchiness. And I guess John Flansburgh has built up enough art-rock credence that he can do a mainstream-sounding song every once in a while. But I can pretty much guarantee that this isn't going to be appearing on any TMBG mixes I might make.
Upside Down Frown - While I like this one increasingly more every time I hear it, it still kind of gives me the impression that Linnell was going through the motions with this one. The lyrics are kind of...I don't know, not weird enough? Sort of an odd complaint, I suppose, but it seems like it could have been better with more creative word-twisting. I think the best part about this one is the harmonizing between the two Johns.
Climbing The Walls - An immediate standout on the album. The sound is really cool, especially the organ part. The lyrics are pretty much classic TMBG, working various references to insanity into something new. Sure, they've done better songs in this vein, but it's still a quality effort.
Careful What You Pack - So soft in its sound that it's difficult to really pay attention to, but I do like the music, which reminds me of something they'd play in old video games. While it hasn't really grabbed me yet, I think it has definite potential to grow on me.
The Cap'm - I'd say this one is just plain fun. The rhyming structure is kind of weird, going from simple rhymes to sorta-but-not-really-rhymes ("Cap'm" with "laughing," "boat" with "don't") to not rhyming at all (the bit about the helm and the button). But maybe that's part of its charm.
With The Dark - It has a lot of sudden shifts in style, giving the impression of a bunch of song fragments combined into one, yet it still works as a cohesive whole. I keep getting parts of it stuck in my head, but not really remembering how they fit into the song. The "I'm getting tired of all my nautical themes" bit (adapted somewhat from "Puppets Gonna Fuck You Up") makes it appropriate that it follows "The Cap'm" in sequence. There are quite a few TMBG songs that use nautical themes, though, so it works as a general meta-reference as well. Probably my favorite Flans-penned song on the album.
The Shadow Government - I think this one might have worked better when I heard it live, but it's still pretty good here. It's really a quintessentially Flansburghian song, what with the title and the ska sound. It's an interesting twist (why am I using that word so much in this review?) that the shadow government is something the narrator is longing for rather than fearing.
Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth - Kind of the opposite of the first sentence about the last song, I didn't think much of this when I heard it live, but I like it here. I think that's largely because it's very lyrically oriented, and it's easier to concentrate on lyrics when listening in the comfort of your own home. I'm not sure there's really any meaning to them, but when they contain clever phrases like "send a tangerine-colored nuclear submarine" and "head lice under hats lie in the headlights everywhere," I don't know that there needs to be.
Withered Hope - While the last song really doesn't seem to make any sense, the lyrics here are the kind that don't necessarily make sense at first, but start to when you realize that the nouns are essentially placeholders for people. That's not to say that there isn't some significance to them (Withered Hope in particular sounds like she'd be the kind of girl who writes angsty, brooding poetry), but, well, not too many other songwriters would use "a picture in a book of a beautiful crook" as a character. I do have to wonder why Withered Hope and the Very Sad Sack are referred to by gender-specific pronouns, while the Motorbike isn't. If I were to rank the songs on the album (and I don't know that I will), this one would be pretty high up there.
Contrecoup - This was written in response to a challenge to Linnell to write a song using some obscure words picked out by a radio host. When I first heard it, I thought it was really cool that Linnell could pull such a thing off, but I didn't really think the song was album-worthy. I was pleasantly surprised to find it really does work as an album track, although the difference in sound is kind of jarring. The liner notes indicate that about half of the songs were produced by the Dust Brothers and the others half by TMBG and Pat Dillett, but I think there was a definite effort to make the sound pretty consistent throughout. This, on the other hand, sounds more minimal in its production, which isn't a bad thing, but makes it an odd fit. Maybe it would have worked better if it had been in an earlier spot on the album. I don't know.
Feign Amnesia - You know, I like this song when I hear it, but I can barely remember it afterwards. It think it's being overshadowed by the more noticeable songs surrounding it. As of now, I'd probably place it in the average category, but that's average as far as TMBG goes, not in terms of music in general. Actually, listening to it again, this song kind of reminds me of something the New Pornographers would do, although I'm sure they'd make it longer and more intricately arranged.
The Mesopotamians - Linnell continues his trend from "I'm Impressed" of addressing the current political climate by writing a song about Iraq. Only, due to a case of temporal confusion, it's about Iraq several thousand years ago. Seriously, though, it's the theme song for a non-existent band (shades of the Young Fresh Fellows, perhaps?), but with the added bonus that it's made up of ancient Mesopotamian rulers. (And yet I'll bet the Johns are still going to claim not to be nerds in future interviews.) It's a lot of fun, and a better way to end the album than the low-key tracks that close out their last two non-children's albums.
As of my first few listens, I'd say it's probably better than Mink Car, but not as good as The Spine. I'm not even going to try to compare it to the earlier albums at this point. The fact that I got the first six all in pretty close succession when I first became a fan gives them a legendary quality that's hard to measure the new stuff against. One thing I think The Else is lacking is a song like "Hovering Sombrero" or "Museum Of Idiots" (or, for that matter, even "Birdhouse In Your Soul") where the surface silliness belies some sweetness and depth of emotion. The majority of songs here seem to be of the paranoid schizophrenic unreliable narrator variety. That is, of course, an integral part (perhaps even THE integral part) of TMBG's lyric-writing, but it kind of gives the impression of the Johns sitting down and saying, "Hey, we're the guys who write songs about paranoia and brain damage, right?", and then specifically addressing those topics. I've seen several people criticize TMBG for trying to sound too much like their old selves on their new songs, but the same people would probably also complain if they started sounding too DIFFERENT from their old selves. Maybe it's just that the early songs sound kind of like they just poured right out of the Johns' minds, while the weirdness on their more recent work often comes across as more strained and deliberate. It's also interesting that this album is so Linnell-heavy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since I tend to prefer his songs anyway, but you'd think they'd want it to be a little more even, especially with the well-below-average number of songs. Oh, well. Overall, I liked the album more than I expected to, which is good, right?
Since I don't want to stay up long enough to type up a song-by-song review of the bonus disc, I'll have to save that for another post. Stay tuned!
Oh, and I keep forgetting to acknowledge people's birthdays, so happy belated birthday to
aliste, eagledna, and dragonxbait.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 06:45 pm (UTC)Because the motorbike really is a motorbike, and they often don't have genders. What gender is the nightlight in "Birdhouse in Your Soul"?
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 02:47 am (UTC)I actually agree with you a lot ("Climbing the Walls" is the one they're pushing to radio, which makes sense -- even though, and I don't know why, but it reminds me of "Wearing a Raincoat"), though I kinda wish they had put Contrecoup on the bonus disc than the real album. I am still waiting on my copy of the album, though, or at least the CD of same.
That's a good point about Sombrero/Idiots/Birdhouse, too, and you're right that one of those is Missing.
On the whole, it seems that this album has a LOT of lines that make me smile and that I really dig, but not always in the way that seems to really make them gel in my head. (The "Feign Amnesia" problem seems to come up a lot, heh...)
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 01:07 pm (UTC)though I kinda wish they had put Contrecoup on the bonus disc than the real album.
Since the bonus disc has quite a few songs that were done for radio projects, I do think it might have fit in better there. Maybe they put it on the album because they thought it was thematically appropriate, though. Either way is fine with me.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-15 12:09 pm (UTC)I meant to the motorbikes, not the song. {g}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 12:58 pm (UTC)As for the motorbike, it's not that uncommon for people to assign genders to vehicles. Ships are often referred to as female, and I believe the same is sometimes true for trucks. I don't know if it holds for motorcycles, but I wouldn't be too surprised.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 01:48 pm (UTC)Thanks. As far as "Feign Amnesia" goes, I've seen people comparing it to "Prevenge," and I can kind of see that. They both have clever titles and are pleasant enough to listen to, but seem...a bit underdeveloped, perhaps?
no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-14 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-15 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-15 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-15 12:09 pm (UTC)