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The Spine

They Might Be Giants - The Spine Audio CD

A fair review of the They Might Be Giants "The Spine" 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.

Band: They Might Be Giants
Title: The Spine
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-03-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Experimental Film 2: Spine 3: Memo to Human Resources 4: Wearing a Raincoat 5: Prevenge 6: Thunderbird 7: Bastard Wants to Hit Me 8: World Before Later On 9: Museum of Idiots 10: It's Kickin' In 11: Spines 12: Contraire 13: Damn Good Times 14: Broke in Two 15: Stalk of Wheat 16: I Can't Hide From My Mind

Hoodoo these guise think they R?
I'd heard OF They Might Be Shrimps, but never heard any of their music (AFAIK). I borrowed this CD from the library out of curiosity and becuase I liked the "cartoon" artwork.

What I noticed about it on first listen was that many of the songs sounded like they were imitating someone else -- Julian Lennon, REM, the Raspberries. Not being familiar with them, is this their usual M. O. ? Is it deliberate?

I ended up liking it quite a bit, although it's a bit artsy-fartsy/metrosexual for my taste (I usually prefer stuff by Springsteen, J. S. Bach, Dwight Yoakam, as well as Ted Nugent's eponymous album and Deep Purple's "Machine Head").

A spine that grows on you
A curmudgeonly older fan, as another reviewer put it. I have been a longtime fan of TMBG, since the "Flood" days, and I've seen the Johns in concert more than any other band. After I bought "The Spine," I listened to it a couple of times, and put it back on the shelf. I just didn't care for it. I did the same thing with "Mink Car. " Then, after a year or so, I picked it up again, and discovered that I really loved it - just like I did with "Mink Car. " As with all of TMBG's albums, the songs are distinctively and uniquely TMBG's, but manage to be fresh and new at the same time. If you like TMBG, buy this album. If you're new to the band, you might start with "Flood" to see what all the fuss is about. Or just buy this - if you like good music with some quirkiness and intelligence, you will like this.

Another Rich Tapestry
Many tracks seem simultaneously familiar and new. `The Spine' is another wonderfully eclectic offering from TMBG, with rich musical arrangements and extraordinary lyrics. From the ingeniously heartrending `Museum of Idiots' to the alienation of `Memo to Human Resources' to the infectious bounce of `Damn Good Times' and the jangled sing-song of `Wearing a Raincoat', the music instantly draws the listener in to the pondering, the sadness, the amusement, and the sheer joy in turn. .

Meta-music
The Spine exceeds my expectations. TMBG keep getting better--and even way better. I fell in love with spines.

I hadn`t listened to any TMBG since "Factory Showroom". I loved "Factory Showroom" and "John Henry" so much. I guess I didn't want to be disappointed. I've been listening since "Ana Ng" was on MTV. I took in "The Spine". I'm falling into "Mink Car" now. And there'll be "The Else" to absorb.

"The Spine" is rich and expert, rockin', optimistic, and bittersweet.

TMBG had some great, clever stuff early on. I don't think any of the early records can compare to the objective mastery of every genre and style on their latest work, and especially the musicality apparent on every single song on "The Spine". These guys know more types of music, more forms and idioms than any other band I know. They observe more obscure conventions. Sometimes, copying--or--paying homage to something or someone else, they do things more interestingly than they've ever been done before.

The Johns are recording studio maestros. They use more technology more inventively than any band I can think of. There's always a new twist. It's cerebral but it's viscerally appealing, especially lately. They don't seem so hyper-catchy on "The Spine" as always sumptuously catchy. They are touching or disturbing; when they're humorous anymore, it's not quirky, but darkly or ingeniously humorous.

It's usually a full mix these days--lush production. It's been a while since TMBG were a jittery, minimalist polka-punk band.

The songs are sometimes not instantly likeable to me. They're often deceptive. I'd think a lot of people over 35 would feel that way. When I was a kid and a young man I was developing lots of pre-analytic good and bad associations with the sorts of music they're always mimicking. (I can`t tell you how intensely the song "Mink Car" hits me with vaguely distasteful sensations. ) Sometimes I feel like I could name moments or parts in particular songs one after another during these songs. That's not to say that all they MBG do is paste bits from other songs together.

I had always ALWAYS died laughing when I heard that single by Cher where they put her voice through a vo-coder or some kind of processing. In "Bastard Wants to Hit Me", the band put John's (?) voice through the same effect. It sounds a lot like some sort of sappy up-tempo Top 40 dance song from about 1978. It's not that simple, of course: an ingenious parody to the most hilariously juxtaposed lyrics of all time! I actually thought of half of this song on my own before the record came out.

Disco and 70s-pop take center stage pretty regularly on the record as they did on "Factory Showroom" and as I'm learning they do on "Mink Car". As a former disco-hater, I'm happy to have finally come to terms with the genre, especially when it's done with such ultra-cool.

"Wearing A Raincoat" to my ears sounded at first like a soul-less laconic psychedelia parody. By the time it's drifting into the bridge, though, it's become so searching and sad. By the time it's built to the key change line, "And once they have that attention/they use it to ask for attention", it's a locomotive of only partly associated sentiment. The music plays back in my head when the day is done and it's time to enjoy a little melancholy.

"Au Contraire" is another example. It came off as just another flip TMBG character song at first. But it develops so surprisingly. It's meta-ratpack music. This time a mad jazz movie moment with flute twangs some string in the heart and sets it vibrating.

"Prevenge", "Damn Good Times", and "Experimental Film" are instantly likeable. "Experimental Film" is such an affectionate treatment of such a cool thing. It's such a cool thing to be affectionate about na�ve creative enthusiasm.

"Kickin' In" is so Elvis Costello he should sue.

Er. The lyrics: some of them you understand; others you know generally what they're about. I can tell you roughly what "Ana Ng" is about, or "Museum of Idiots", but some references seem intended to remain private. In some songs, the boys just seem to be playing with rhymes, clich�s, figures of speech. The Johns love irony, paradox, and word-play. They are enthralled by ideas, by personalities in history; moments, monuments, and myths of history. It is in some part due to them that my 6 year-old has become a little scholar of the American presidency. I don't think TMBG are anything like demented as some reviews make them out to be. (Not since "Pencil Rain". )

The mature lyrics of the last few records I know of give up more the more you listen and learn. They have higher pay-off than most of the earlier work.

(Now that I said that, though, I read the lyrics over again and they remind me of "Lincoln". ).

Gonna make you fall in love again.
It's pretty much what you expect from a TMBG album. This was TMBG's 2004 release. Short songs with catchy melodies and absurd lyrics. While it may not rank up there with their best albums, it's still a solid effort. "Thunderbird" is my personal favorite song on the album (not that you asked). Not likely to win the Johns many new fans, but most of their regular fan base should enjoy it (although there are some curmudgeonly older fans who seem to hate anything new that TMBG puts out).

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.