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They Might Be Giants - Mink Car Audio CD

A fair review of the They Might Be Giants "Mink Car" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all They Might Be Giants reviews here, or go back to the They Might Be Giants tabs.

They Might Be Giants Band: They Might Be Giants
Title: Mink Car
Rating:
Release Date: 2001-09-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Bangs 2: Cyclops Rock 3: Man, It's So Loud in Here 4: Mr. Xcitement - Mike Doughty, They Might Be Giants 5: Another First Kiss 6: I've Got a Fang 7: Hovering Sombrero 8: Yeh Yeh 9: Hopeless Bleak Despair 10: Drink! 11: My Man 12: Older 13: Mink Car 14: Wicked Little Critta 15: Finished With Lies 16: She Thinks She's Edith Head 17: Working Undercover for the Man

Their Best Since Flood-- Finding Fun While Making Fun
I think it's TMBG's best CD since Flood. I have just listened to Mink Car for the first time. The lyrics are as clever, funny and pointed as ever. I was jarred awake and surprised by the clever wordplay and original ideas and phrases, much like the first time I heard my favorite early albums Lincoln and Flood. And unlike some of their post-Flood material, the songs aren't overproduced, there aren't too many instruments drowning out the vocals. The songs have a sense of childlike fun that exemplifies TMBG at their best, and is impossible to fake. There are some serious classics in the novelty-humorous-satirical song categories on this CD, including "Older," "Man, It's So Loud In Here," "I've Got A Fang" (one of my favorites in its silly oddness), and even "Wicked Little Critta. " TMBG look around at modern popular culture and find fun in it while making fun of it. And remember, "Time is marching on and time is still marching on. This day will soon be at an end and now it's even sooner. ".


Nothing new to add, just wanted to give 5 stars...
It's all been said in the previous 91 reviews. Great album, one of their best.

"I've Got a Fang" & "She Thinks She's Edith Head" certainly rank as the best songs. I like the way Linnell is so close to the microphone on "Fang. ".


No surprises....but Heck, who needs em?
And the boys do not disappoint here. When it's They Might Be Giants, you know what to expect - chorus after chorus after catchy chorus, with quirky, funny, witty lyrics. Mink Car is full of pop gems. The title track is particularly brilliant and somewhat removed from their usual style, but the rest of this is classic TMBG - "Working undercover for the man", "Hopeless bleak despair", "Bangs", "Another first kiss". . . I could go and on, but you get the general idea.

I deduct one star for the annoying "Mr. Xcitement" and "Wicked little critta" - two low points in an otherwise fine record. .


I got my copy autographed by John Flansburgh.
It features their typical blend of catchy melodies with silly lyrics. This is one of my favorite They Might Be Giants albums. Lots of great songs on this one. My favorites would probably be "Cyclops Rock", "Man, It's So Loud in Here", "I've Got a Fang" and "Older". Fans of TMBG should enjoy this one.


Evidence of a collective TMBG fan unconscious?
Weeeeeeird. I took a few minutes to check out other reviewers' comments before writing my own and saw that another reviewer (hi Brian) had the same experience I did with this album: we both bought it, listened to it, hated it, hid it, dug it out a few weeks/months/years later, and suddenly loved it.

Ultimately, though, Brian is right; you will get hit by the mink car, and in my case, plastered all over the pavement. Though at first I was turned off by the very funky, poppy, electronic sound, I realized that this was just TMBG's take on the pop music scene, conceptually not all that different from Flood and even more like Factory Showroom (which, unlike other reviewers here, I loved).

Mink Car has a lot of great tracks. It also has some. . . well. . . less great tracks. For me, the secret was to listen only to odd-numbered tracks up to "Hovering Sombrero," and to fast-forward past the oddly cacophonous endings of "Wicked Little Critta" and "She Thinks She's Edith Head. "

The good tracks are, once you get to know them, some of the Johns' best. "Bangs" is an instantly lovable song that will get stuck in your head for days, and definitely the only song I know that contains the word "proscenium. " "Mink Car" itself is a brilliant take on the laid-back lounge sound of a 70's TV show.

"My Man" is a treat for fans who love to tease out the strands of meaning in a good lyric; lines like "I guess my man's fallen out with my head" and the simile drawn between the body's nervous system and a transoceanic cable explore the feeling of separation of body and mind - the "ghost in the machine" concept, with a quirky underpinning suggestive of malfunctioning machinery. It seems very odd to say this about a TMBG song, but it's actually. . . haunting.

"Hovering Sombrero" is absolutely one of my favorite TMBG songs. The melody is unusually complex (try singing it all the way through in the shower) and the lyrics equally so: "Don't be burdened by regrets or make your failures an obsession or become embittered or possessed by ruined hopes - remember when you take yourself for granted, feel rejected and unwanted, know you're never just a hat, you're never only just a hat, you know. . . " I always find this an uplifting song, great for when things aren't going well and I feel like I'm just a hat.

Other songs - "Older," "Wicked Little Critta," "Man, It's So Loud in Here" - are just plain fun. I'm sure I've many times attracted the attention of fellow motorists when I cruise along the highway waving my imaginary stein to the tune of "Drink!".


You can see a complete list of all They Might Be Giants discography, or go back to the They Might Be Giants tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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