They Might Be Giants, "Join Us"
Jul. 20th, 2011 02:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinAfter a long period in which their canonical albums (even the ones for grownups) usually seemed to have more conventional rock material in them than their podcast and ancillary stuff, TMBG have put out an unquestionably weird studio album. I'm going to have to spend more time wrapping my head around it to even figure out what my favorite songs are, though I do like the incomprehensible "Cloisonné", the chipper expression of rage "When Will You Die", and "The Lady And The Tiger", in which the lady and the tiger discuss whether it'd be better for them both to just get out of there.
Flansburgh's been comparing Join Us to their earliest work, the Pink Album and Lincoln, and the weirdness is certainly comparable. It's not quite the same, I think just because these guys are in their early fifties now and not writing quite the same kinds of songs a couple of kids would. But it's got the relatively spare arrangements and incongruous musical elements combined with huge quantities of baffling, sometimes hilarious lyrics. I think what it actually reminds me of most is John Linnell's solo album State Songs.
Flansburgh's been comparing Join Us to their earliest work, the Pink Album and Lincoln, and the weirdness is certainly comparable. It's not quite the same, I think just because these guys are in their early fifties now and not writing quite the same kinds of songs a couple of kids would. But it's got the relatively spare arrangements and incongruous musical elements combined with huge quantities of baffling, sometimes hilarious lyrics. I think what it actually reminds me of most is John Linnell's solo album State Songs.