Not only, but especially for the ladies

[vovat]

Having now reviewed every They Might Be Giants album, plus a few B-sides and other projects, I'm going to turn to the Johns' solo projects. Flansburgh was definitely the more productive John in this respect. As part of his Hello Recording Club (which I often wish I'd been able to get in on, but I wasn't a fan back then), there was an EP credited to Hello (The Band). This project was led by joshuafried and DJ Rolf Conant (a pseudonym for John Conant Flansburgh himself). Here's what was on it:

Sodium Mask - Am I the only one who thinks this sounds kind of like the Inspector Gadget theme? Well, in parts, anyway.

(Since You Joined) The Corporation - A pretty cool song that has Flans singing falsetto on a story about "love lost to corporate domination" (as Joshua put it).

Town to Town - My favorite of the Hello the Band songs, which includes what I think might be the first case of vocals by Flansy's wife Robin Goldwasser on one of his projects (unless she's the mysterious voice at the very beginning of "Sodium Mask"). Tom Vu, the subject of the song, had a real estate infomercial in the eighties and nineties, and now plays professional poker.

Lullaby to Nightmares - I discussed the back story of this one when I reviewed the Long Tall Weekend version, but this earlier take on the song is the superior one, at least as far as I'm concerned.

The EP also included the song "Hello Hello," but I'm not going to mention it quite yet, because it just happened to be re-released on the first full-length Mono Puff album, Unsupervised. Mono Puff had more of a traditional band arrangement than Hello did, and the tracks on their first full-length record are:

Guitar Was the Case - The festivities start out with this driving rock instrumental.

Unsupervised, I Hit My Head - The title track of the album (well, more or less), and my favorite song on the record. It's classic Flans, and wouldn't be out of place on a TMBG album. Actually, TMBG has been playing this one in concert recently, but not at any of the shows I've attended. (If only I'd gone to the early show on New Year's Eve instead of the late one!) And if you're wondering what the song is about, Flans has said that it's partially about leaving the irresponsibility of your twenties, and the diminishing effects of coffee. (Based on the latter, I would imagine that his mysterious friend Joe actually IS coffee, as in "a cup of joe.")

Don't Break the Heart - Originally written and performed by Amy Rigby. Flans does a good job at singing this country-ish tune, but leaves out the second verse for some reason. Later, Laura Cantrell recorded her own version, which features Robin on backing vocals, for her second album.

Distant Antenna - A weird spoken-word piece, apparently partially inspired by Flans's fondness for the name of the Orange Mountains in New Jersey.

The Devil Went Down to Newport (Totally Rockin') - Basically an updated version of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," with a surfing contest to the sounds of rock and roll instead of a fiddle contest. The song wasn't written by Flans, but I'm not sure an official recording exists of the original. It was credited to a local band in New England known as the Clamdiggers, some of whose members were also in Mente with John Murphy, Kim Deal's ex-husband.

What Bothers the Spaceman - The subject of this song is Bill "Spaceman" Lee, who played baseball for the Red Sox in the seventies. I'm not sure who the Mr. Ellis mentioned is, but I'm pretty sure it's not one of my uncles-in-law. {g} The style of the song fits what Flans described as Lee's "lost philosopher" style on radio interviews, and there's a cool trumpet bit at the end.

Hello, Hello - See, I told you I'd get around to it eventually! Originally performed by infamous glam rocker and child molester Gary Glitter, Flans's take on it gives it an appropriately creepy vibe.

Dr. Kildare - From what I've heard, this is more or less a cover of a cover, being based on a ska version of the theme from the old TV show. Not having heard the original theme, I couldn't say whether this is accurate. But anyway, it's Mono Puff's own foray into ska.

So Long, Mockingbird - I quite like this one. The first version of it that I'd heard was the a cappella take that was on Dial-A-Song, and it was apparently originally supposed to be a cappella on the album as well, but the band decided to add in a country-western guitar part and a Hammond B3 organ. Incidentally, I've wondered for some time whether the line "I'm happy as a scarecrow now" means "I'm AS happy as a scarecrow" or "I'm happy BEING a scarecrow." It could go either way. If I ever make a mix of songs about scarecrows (I can think of several right off the top of my head, even without including "If I Only Had a Brain"), this will almost certainly be on it.

Careless Santa - I already reviewed this one as part of Holidayland, but I'm including it here anyway to stave off accusations that I forgot "Careless Santa."

Don't I Have the Right? - A bit of an oddity for the album, this is more or less a straight country song, sung by Nancy Lynn Howell. While presumably written by Flans for a female vocalist, he also did his own version for Dial-A-Song, which he sings with an over-the-top faux-country voice.

To Serve Mankind - A sci-fi instrumental apparently named after the Twilight Zone episode (which I've never seen, but I DID read the short story that was either the basis of the episode, or based ON it, so I do know the punchline).

Nixon's the One - The title was, of course, Nixon's delightfully ambiguous campaign slogan. Flans says he wrote the song in response to the praise that Nixon received right after he died.


There was also an EP for "The Devil Went Down to Newport,", which contained these songs (in addition to the A-side, which I've already reviewed):

Oddball - Not to be confused with one of Allan Sherman's very few non-humorous songs, this Mono Puff B-side is a cover of a Frank Black B-side. It's really quite similar to the original, although Flans doesn't do the weird hissing that Frank did during the instrumental parts. I believe that Frank's then-lead-guitarist Lyle Workman also played on the Mono Puff version, adding an air of authenticity to it.

Tryptophane - Yeah, that's how the title of the song is spelled, even though it's not the spelling for the actual chemical. The chemical is obviously what the song is about, though, since it mentions "the leg of the bird and the special day observed" (although I've heard the thing about turkey putting people to sleep is a myth). The song itself is really fun, with a repeated keyboard line driving it.

The Devil Went Down to Newport (Totally Remade) - Basically a slowed-down version of the EP's A-side. It's all right, but nothing to write home about. (Then again, when was the last time YOU wrote home about a song?)


Mono Puff later put out another album, It's Fun to Steal, which had a more consistent sound to it. While Unsupervised sort of came across as just a collection of songs that Flans liked but didn't want to put on a TMBG album, this second record has an overarching white-boy funk theme to it, although there are some straight-up rock songs and a few oddities.

Creepy - It's hard for me to hear the word "creepy" without thinking of this song. It's a really good song, though, so that's not a problem, except when I start quoting it to people who are tired of my doing so. I'm amused by the spoken-word bit in the middle. "This song is called 'Creepy.'"

It's Fun to Steal - Hey, it's another title song on the second track of an album! I wonder if that would have become a regular thing for Mono Puff if they'd released any more albums. Oh, and I quite like the song itself.

Poison Flowers - This is one of the songs that's more in the rock vibe than the funk one. It appears to be about a supervillain trying to recruit henchmen or apprentices, but you never can tell with Johns. Flans reused the line about sandals stained with cherry soda in a Coca-Cola radio spot, changing "cherry soda" to "Coca-Cola."

Mr. Hughes Says - The "Mr. Hughes" of the title is poet Langston Hughes, whose motto was "dig and be dug in return."

Imaginary Friend - I like this song, although I have to wonder why the felt-tipped pen that was originally the subject of the entire number was relegated to the very first line in this finished version. I know I'm not the first to mention this, but "I've been all around this crummy world" is an excellent line.

Taste the Bass - There's really not too much to this mostly-instrumental track, but it does continue with the funk theme.

Extra Krispy - This song features vocals by Robin Goldwasser and Kate Flannery (the latter of whom went on to star in the American version of The Office), and a rap by a group called Double Dong. The rap group opened for Mono Puff (or maybe it was TMBG; I can't quite remember) a few times, and the general fan opinion on them was pretty negative. I haven't heard any of their songs, but they were apparently novelty rap with really dirty lyrics. Anyway, getting back to the song itself, it's a general fan favorite, but I can't help but remember a review I read that said something like, "Do we really need ANOTHER song praising New York City?" The critic had a point, but I still enjoy the song, even if I do prefer Original Recipe chicken. {g}

Dedicated - This somewhat odd but really fun track tells us that Mono Puff is "not only, but especially for the ladies," even though I would imagine the band has more male fans. (At least, I would imagine that pretty much all Mono Puff fans are also TMBG fans, and their fanbase appears to be predominantly male, although I think I might personally know more female fans.) After that, there's a weird spoken-word bit about someone trying to discover his neighbor's secret identity, or something like that.

Backstabbing Liar - This might be my favorite Mono Puff song. It's a very catchy rock number, and I actually LIKE Eric Schermerhorn's guitar solo at the end. Who would have thought I would have said THAT after my Factory Showroom review? {g}

Hillbilly Drummer Girl - This was the first version of this song that I heard, but I eventually went on to hear the original by the Young Fresh Fellows. It's a great song, and the Minus 5 (another band led by the Fellows' Scott McCaughey) performed it when I saw them live a few years ago. While I think I prefer the Fellows' version, Mono Puff's sticks pretty close to it, and kind of gives it more of a country sound (appropriately enough, given the lyrics). Oddly enough, I've known people online who really didn't like this song, and I have to wonder what's up with that.

Dashiki Lover - This one is pretty good. I like the violin, which I believe was played by Mark Feldman (the same guy who played it on "Istanbul"). Flans sings lead, but the the two Puff girls have pretty significant roles as well.

Pretty Fly - I'd say this is one of the aforementioned oddities. It's a song from the movie Night of the Hunter (which I haven't seen, but I recently added to my Netflix queue on the recommendation of revme) performed by Robin. She sings it really well, but I've never much cared for the song itself. Maybe I'll like it better after hearing it in its original context. Oh, and there's no known connection between this and the Offspring song "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)," which was a hit around when IFTS was released.

I Just Found Out What Everybody Knows - Presumably about a guy who just found that his significant other was cheating on him, this song kind of reminds me of the Magnetic Fields' "The Flowers She Sent and the Flowers She Said She Sent," perhaps because of the similar mentions of unusual coats (a monkey fur coat for the Puff, and an ostrich feather coat for the Fields).

Night Security - Sung by Barry Carl, the bass singer from Rockapella, it's a pretty fun song about a guy whose dream in life is to be a night watchman. Hey, we should all have dreams that are actually feasible, shouldn't we?


Next week (or thereabouts), I'll examine John Linnell's two solo projects, the excellent State Songs and the kinda weird House of Mayors.