They Might Be Giants Poll: A Poll

[BJBMK2]

Been listening to the John's a lot on Spotify, and I realised that there incredibly prolific discography, is made up of two stripes essentially.

You have the Daft stuff (Fingertips, Particle Man, that one about the sun). And the stuff which, in Chris Morris's words, songs that are about something deeply sad, but hidden behind a misty, elliptical lyric (They'll Need A Crane, The End Of The Tour, Ana Ng, Am I Awake?).

But which of these categories do you think works better? Which one works to there strengths? Are they both as good as each other? Is it far too late to be asking people on the internet questions about a joke band?

[Lungpuddle]

They Might Be Giants are made up of many wonderful things, and one of these wonderful things is being daft. You can split their stuff into those two categories (daft and not daft) and still have enough sub-categories under them to never really get bored of their output. Are you talking strictly lyrics? Because if you factor in the music on its own, you've got many, many different styles anyway. Particularly with Flansburgh, who seems to not like being in the same genre for very long. But overall I think if Particle Man is daft, then so is End of the Tour. The 'this is the vehicle, these are the people, you opened the door and expelled all the people' is a daft reinterpretation of 'this is the church, this is the steeple' but the music elevates it and it's one of the most moving songs I've ever heard.

I'm just trying to defend the concept of daftness from the idea that daft can't be deep, which I don't think is what you're saying. So, having done that, I'm going to have a coffee and vote for Daft.

[PlanktonSideburns]

Yea they're both, which I like as it resonates with my own stupid tragic life. Can understand why that wouldn't quite work with other lives tho

[DrGreggles]

So many songs...

[lazyhour]

Strange timing - I joined a Facebook TMBG only yesterday so I could chat with other TMBG nerds about how much I love their bleak lyrics and songs about depression, madness, and all-around hopeless deep despair.

I think what's interesting is that the dark stuff was always there, but used to be more dressed up in daft disguises. Now the Johns - Linnell in particular - seem much more comfortable exploring these lyrical themes more explicitly. I for one think this is a good thing.

For fun, I'll ask the same question here that I asked on Facebook: what do people think is the earliest example of a TMBG song about depression or mental health issues that *wasn't* wrapped in a daft dressing? More recent examples would be things like Memo To Human Resources, Renew My Prescription, I Can't Remember The Dream, Hopeless Bleak Despair.

[cosmic-hearse]

I only noticed recently - particularly on their early, less 'rock' records - that TMBG had a noticeable Residents influence, a band who often walked the fine line between daft & sinister.

[sutin]

I only noticed recently - particularly on their early, less 'rock' records - that TMBG had a noticeable Residents influence, a band who often walked the fine line between daft & sinister.

They've said many times that The Residents were one of their biggest influences, especially in terms of recording technique. I love everything the Residents did up until the 4 piece line up supposedly fell apart after the Mole Show, but find anything after that either boring or tough-going (with a few exceptions). TMBG are definitely more consistent, even if I prefer the early records.

Rabid Child is a very 'Residential' song, as is a lot of the first record.

[sutin]

I'm in a few TMBG FB groups and have always been surprised about what awful taste in music a lot of their fans have. All this insufferable geek comedy music like Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Coulton and Weird Al has no connection to TMBG as far as i'm concerned, i'd place them amongst the greats of smartarse edgy artpop, yer DEVOs, Residents and Sparks.

[PaulTMA]

They've said many times that The Residents were one of their biggest influences, especially in terms of recording technique. I love everything the Residents did up until the 4 piece line up supposedly fell apart after the Mole Show, but find anything after that either boring or tough-going (with a few exceptions). TMBG are definitely more consistent, even if I prefer the early records.

Rabid Child is a very 'Residential' song, as is a lot of the first record.

The previously unreleased songs on Then: The Earlier Years to me sound about as Residents as they got, with a few exceptions:

[lazyhour]

Here's a recent (3 years ago) tune with a very Residents vibe.

[Lungpuddle]

Strange timing - I joined a Facebook TMBG only yesterday so I could chat with other TMBG nerds about how much I love their bleak lyrics and songs about depression, madness, and all-around hopeless deep despair.

Oh wow, I think I've just found your post. If you come across long, pseud-ish posts containing brilliant puns that ultimately go nowhere, that's me!

Not early at all, but the non-album track I Am A Ring seems to be the perfect song to soundtrack depression but I may be projecting more than anything. Daylight from Phone Power is another.

I Am A Ring - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgqtGoX_Lxs

Daylight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akkl80c9_uo

I'm in a few TMBG FB groups and have always been surprised about what awful taste in music a lot of their fans have. All this insufferable geek comedy music like Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Coulton and Weird Al has no connection to TMBG as far as i'm concerned, i'd place them amongst the greats of smartarse edgy artpop, yer DEVOs, Residents and Sparks.

That's also me! At least, I really like two Barenaked Ladies, Maroon and I Think You Should Drive. You probably know that Flansburgh produced Coulton's Artificial Heart album, it's a good album that suffers from the order of songs, kind of like TMBG's Phone Power. Weird Al's pastiche of Them is okay. I'm not saying any of these bands are better than The Residents or Sparks (I've really tried getting into Devo but can't find anything that holds my interest).

The stuff after the first four Residents albums that I think are worth checking out are Demons Dance Alone, Animal Lover and the Bunny Boy. The latter took a while for me to get into, but Secret Room is great. I would place TMBG above them these days though, the last few Residents albums felt a bit like they were stagnating a bit whereas the Johns always have a way of making each song distinct and memorable. At the same time, am I the only person to think The Communists Have the Music and I Love You for Psychological Reasons are very similar?

[Brundle-Fly]

The stuff after the first four Residents albums that I think are worth checking out are Demons Dance Alone, Animal Lover and the Bunny Boy. The latter took a while for me to get into, but Secret Room is great.

Only the first four?  No love for Duck Stab/ Buster & Glen? Eskimo? Commercial Album? Vileness Fats? Later(ish) ones, I'd add The Composers LPs, God In Three Persons and Freakshow.

[Lungpuddle]

Only the first four?  No love for Duck Stab/ Buster & Glen? Eskimo? Commercial Album? Vileness Fats? Later(ish) ones, I'd add The Composers LPs, God In Three Persons and Freakshow.

I was thinking of the first four that come up on my mp3 player, which includes Duck Stab and the Commercial album. 'When We Were Young' is beautiful. But I never really got on well with Meet the Residents for some reason. Let's pretend I said 'first four hundred releases.'

They Might Be Giants' Gigantic documentary vs The Residents' Theory of Obscurity documentary is such a contrast. I feel warmer towards the former because of how well the Johns come across (although that Elvis Costello story in the extras slightly cools me toward them), whereas the Residents one, without having strong personalities explicitly at the centre of the film, sort of struggles the same way the Sparks Brothers does. Celebrities and fans popping up to say roughly the same thing in different ways. Still, enjoyable stuff.

TMBG's new album I was initially a bit disappointed with outside the five pre-released songs (I Lost Thursday throbs with urgent funkiness, in particular), but it's grown on me exponentially. Lord Snowdon, the little midi-souding horn fill sounds so tiny but so proud, it's one of my favourite songs of theirs now.

Happy new year, everyone!

[The Mollusk]

TMBG, alongside Primus, are a band who take a lot of cues from The Residents but are about as far away as one can get from being a "good band".

[DrGreggles]

I'm in a few TMBG FB groups and have always been surprised about what awful taste in music a lot of their fans have. All this insufferable geek comedy music like Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Coulton and Weird Al has no connection to TMBG as far as i'm concerned, i'd place them amongst the greats of smartarse edgy artpop, yer DEVOs, Residents and Sparks.

I suspect someone who considers Barenaked Ladies to be "geek comedy music" has barely listened to Barenaked Ladies.

[sutin]

I suspect someone who considers Barenaked Ladies to be "geek comedy music" has barely listened to Barenaked Ladies.

Okay, i'm up for being proven wrong. Recommend me a few songs.

I've listened to their first album and of course One Week and find it all a bit unbearable.

[sutin]

TMBG, alongside Primus, are a band who take a lot of cues from The Residents but are about as far away as one can get from being a "good band".

What a terrible opinion for someone with a Ween username! Both TMBG and Primus were as good as the '90s got IMO.

[sutin]

They Might Be Giants' Gigantic documentary vs The Residents' Theory of Obscurity documentary is such a contrast. I feel warmer towards the former because of how well the Johns come across (although that Elvis Costello story in the extras slightly cools me toward them), whereas the Residents one, without having strong personalities explicitly at the centre of the film, sort of struggles the same way the Sparks Brothers does. Celebrities and fans popping up to say roughly the same thing in different ways. Still, enjoyable stuff.

I played my DVD of Gigantic to death in the early '00s but find the film a huge slog now. Where The Sparks Brothers told Sparks' story with energy and excitement (despite Ron and Russell not being very 'rock 'n' roll' people), Gigantic is just slow, dull, cheap-looking and has a real lack of interesting talking heads. I believe The Sparks Brothers could make anyone a Sparks fan, but no one's gonna get into TMBG from watching Gigantic.

[DrGreggles]

Okay, i'm up for being proven wrong. Recommend me a few songs.

These are from Rock Spectacle, a live album comprising of tracks from their first 3 albums.

Brian Wilson
Life, in a Nutshell
When I Fall
Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank
Break Your Heart
What a Good Boy

If you don't like these then I doubt you'll ever like them but, even though they do the odd goofy song and don't take themselves too seriously on stage, this is what they're really all about.

[lazyhour]

I found the Gigantic doc to be a huge missed opportunity. Didn't really delve into their darker or weirder side and wasn't likely to win them many new fans.

The Mollosk, you have every right to call TMBG not a good band, but I fear you've based this wrong opinion on their worst and most over-played songs. For me they are perhaps the greatest band in the history of music, but most of their best songs have never troubled the ears of your average music fan.

[Lemming]

Love TMBG although I'm one of those stupid people who thinks Lincoln is the absolute peak and everything after Apollo 18 is a bit shakier (though still plenty of quality stuff).

As for the daft/not daft stuff, a lot of my favourite lyrics are on the first album, which I suppose maybe qualifies as daft? Like, "Boat of Car" has fascinated me for years - what the fuck is that about? Same for "32 Footsteps". "Thirty two boxcars, all of them have your face". Eh? Great stuff. And "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes", which can only be about some kind of nuclear holocaust.

Although, thinking about it, my two absolute favourite TMBG songs lyrically probably fall into the "not daft" territory - Ana Ng, which needless to say is just ace, and Spiralling Shape.

Speaking of Ana Ng, I always wonder what the same song would be like from Ana's perspective. Weird feelings of longing whenever she sees an accordion, an overpowering desire to travel to New York City...

[sutin]

I found the Gigantic doc to be a huge missed opportunity. Didn't really delve into their darker or weirder side and wasn't likely to win them many new fans.

The Mollosk, you have every right to call TMBG not a good band, but I fear you've based this wrong opinion on their worst and most over-played songs. For me they are perhaps the greatest band in the history of music, but most of their best songs have never troubled the ears of your average music fan.

I sit somewhat on the fence on this take. Boss Of Me is certainly pretty poor by their standards but Birdhouse In Your Soul is a beautifully written and crafted masterpiece. On release it was pretty much the greatest TMBG song (and we know that it has some stiff competition in that regard) which makes it all the more remarkable that it was a big hit.

[lazyhour]

Good point - Birdhouse is the exception that tests the rule. :-)

[Brundle-Fly]

I played my DVD of Gigantic to death in the early '00s but find the film a huge slog now. Where The Sparks Brothers told Sparks' story with energy and excitement (despite Ron and Russell not being very 'rock 'n' roll' people), Gigantic is just slow, dull, cheap-looking and has a real lack of interesting talking heads. I believe The Sparks Brothers could make anyone a Sparks fan, but no one's gonna get into TMBG from watching Gigantic.

I was thinking of the first four that come up on my mp3 player, which includes Duck Stab and the Commercial album. 'When We Were Young' is beautiful. But I never really got on well with Meet the Residents for some reason. Let's pretend I said 'first four hundred releases.'

They Might Be Giants' Gigantic documentary vs The Residents' Theory of Obscurity documentary is such a contrast. I feel warmer towards the former because of how well the Johns come across (although that Elvis Costello story in the extras slightly cools me toward them), whereas the Residents one, without having strong personalities explicitly at the centre of the film, sort of struggles the same way the Sparks Brothers does. Celebrities and fans popping up to say roughly the same thing in different ways. Still, enjoyable stuff.

TMBG's new album I was initially a bit disappointed with outside the five pre-released songs (I Lost Thursday throbs with urgent funkiness, in particular), but it's grown on me exponentially. Lord Snowdon, the little midi-souding horn fill sounds so tiny but so proud, it's one of my favourite songs of theirs now.

Happy new year, everyone!

Fair enough and happy new year. What's the Elvis Costello story? 

[sutin]

If I remember correctly, Elektra (their label at the time) had lined up Elvis Costello to produce Apollo 18 but J&J freaked out for some reason.

[Lungpuddle]

I'm mainly going from memory, I haven't actually seen the doc in years, I just felt bad for their A&R person. It's not a huge controversy or anything, and Costello ended up not being involved in the story anyway.

Also want to clarify that I don't think the Sparks doc is bad. I enjoyed it a lot. The last shot where 'the truth' is revealed is particularly great.

[PaulTMA]

Surely it's a massive faux pas to line up a producer without the band even knowing about it, though?

[Lungpuddle]

Oh completely, but I relate to making a massive faux pas too much. Seems like I'm misremembering how it played out.

[Avril Lavigne]

TMBG, alongside Primus, are a band who take a lot of cues from The Residents but are about as far away as one can get from being a "good band".

Fuuuuuck, this is a face turn I never would have predicted. First personal downer news of '22.

[The Mollusk]

What a terrible opinion for someone with a Ween username! Both TMBG and Primus were as good as the '90s got IMO.

Dean Ween has gone on record hating TMBG!

The Mollosk, you have every right to call TMBG not a good band, but I fear you've based this wrong opinion on their worst and most over-played songs. For me they are perhaps the greatest band in the history of music, but most of their best songs have never troubled the ears of your average music fan.

Nah I'm familiar with a few of their albums across their career and I'll admit I used to quite like them and even in the last couple years I've got some enjoyment out of "The Else", the best thing I've heard by them, but as time has gone by I've found myself disliking them more and more. I don't like their tone, they sound smug and too smart for their own good and it distracts me too much from any sense of fun or pathos they're trying to convey. It's really grating.

I am sorry to have disappointed you all on the first day of the year.