Now's the time on ILX where we admit thinking TMBG were awesome in junior high

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DORKS!! ALL OF YOU!!

― TOMBOT, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

FUCK YOU!!

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I only got into them this year! I am 27! oh dear!

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

OK I'm going over to Tower to get the box set

― TOMBOT, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

when THEY were in Junior High?

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

no we didn't.

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

we liked "serious" grunge and gangsta rap.

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I was gonna say! I really liked "Ana Ng" but kind of despised everything else.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Fountains of Wayne are just as good

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Making "found art videos" about TMBG is not the same thing as thinking they were awesome anyway!!! My friend Josh was way more into them than I was, so was Dub and Paul and probably Erik but fuck those three, they were fucking lame.

"Serious grunge" was for shit!!

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Temple of the Dog had one good song

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, seriously, I wish I still had the "found art video" because it was brilliant, though not as good as the totally speeded out shaky-cam vid we made for "Born in the USA" but I'm pretty sure my old friend Jessica has the tape, if she didn't like burn it to try to forget how fucking retarded we all were.

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I think it was junior high or early high school. I saw them on the Tonight Show performing that song about Constantinople, and thought it was great. But then I bought the tape and hated it. Never looked back.

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

My friends who were most seriously into TMBG all now have advanced and/or multiple degrees in highly technical fields and I'm pretty sure they all bank more than I do

― TOMBOT, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG were 2 Seasame Street. We were busy trying to be Trent Reznor anyway.

― bnw (bnw), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

They were GREBT!
Those albums I liked back then I still love now!
Once you start singing Birdhouse in your soul you can't stop. Its like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer but with slightly worse results.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

eeew, bnw, I don't even know you anymore.

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Cyclops Rock best. That's a newish one, I think.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

(Is misspelling Sesame Street like not being to count with the Count?)

― bnw (bnw), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.foodstyler.com/images/count.jpg

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

ONE, TWO, THREE!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

― TOMBOT, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I would post the Allygoth picture here if I could find it. (Actually that Count pic is pretty close!)

― bnw (bnw), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Do you want me to fuck your wife? Ha! Ha! Ha!

― allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

FUCK YOU BNW NO ONE WILL EVER SEE THAT PHOTO AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm just remembering the last thread where The Count was invoked and I am having the giggles.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously I can't believe I ever let any of you see that picture of me when I was 15. I am never posting online while drinking AGAIN.

Dan, I always have the giggles when the Count is invoked :/

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

it's sesame street's birthday today!

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Fuck all y'all. I will readily admit to still loving the classic TMBG albums (Lincoln, Flood, Apollo 18). They write some of the best pop songs ever. I am jealous of any group that could write "They'll Need a Crane" or "Snowball in Hell."

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I almost feel sorry for you guys. Almost.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Meaning that secretly Nicolars knows every frame of the "Don't Let's Start" video?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember talking to a friend about a mutual friend he was dating. "She likes They Might Be Giants," he despaired. "So do I," I responded. "Me, too," he replied, "but I like all music. She just likes They Might Be Giants."

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

FEAR.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

That's worse than scientology.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick is OTMFnM. Also: Dial-a-Song is genius.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the Dial-A-Song collection.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

my friend was exaggerating mightily, as was his wont. but still.

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

mininum WAGE!
HIYAH! *crack*!

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

They fell off with Apollo 18, but the first three records are crucial.
Don't Believe me?
Then go
Here->http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc800/c824/c8248101cl9.jpg

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

cunt von cunt.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

this thread is dividing along exactly the lines i thought it would

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Women and MEEEEE-eeennnn-nnnnn-nnnn-nnnnnn-nnn-nnn-nnn!

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Goato joto.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG-ILX?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

dude, 8th grade was ALL about "Flood"!

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry i was listening to public enemy and ll cool j in jr high. I don't think i even heard of them till near the end of high school.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I was in high school when _Flood_ came out. I remember thinking, "Wow, TMBG has gone from being mildly amusing with one great song to THE FUCKING BANE OF MY EXISTENCE ARGH ARGH MOMMY MAKE IT STOP damn this sucks."

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Dan and Sam have proven their sanity.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

you read like ned.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I started listening to TMBG when I was 9.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

That was cold!

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Um, I listened to Public Enemy and TMBG in junior high. And I still do.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

That was cold!

:-(

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I kid because I love. It's not like you like TMBG.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I walked home from school in decembers in michigan.

THAT was cold.

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Come on, NA, everyone knows that fans of one type of music listen to music like this. etc

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not like you like TMBG.

*whistles idly*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

You do? Then all is lost.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

don't get defensive NA, I wasn't implying anything other than I can't admit I was listening to TMBG. Because I wasn't.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think I ever adored them per se but I've got a couple of their earlier albums. God knows when I last thought about them, though.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Black Cure fans listen to music like this:

http://soo.studentorg.wisc.edu/images/opportunities/music.jpg

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

― Allyzay, Monday, 10 November 2003 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha, I forgot to add the :) so that people wouldn't take my words the wrong away. I'm a dork, but not so much of a dork that I feel have to be defensive of TMBG.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Well I am.

― nickalicious crying tears of bitter pain (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I did like them, but couldn't think they were awesome because my sister did. I like them more now, but less than before I owned anything by them. And junior high was a bit more about Bret and Axl and Nikki and Tracii and c.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

NA is right, "They'll Need a Crane" is ace

I wonder if TMBG-hatin' isn't related to, like, lots of other stuff and TMBG winds up bein' the patsy (NB I joined in with the TMBG hate for a couple of years when I seemed to have lost what taste I'd had for them, and then I told my wife I thought they were lame when we were first dating, and she seemed hurt in the way one sometimes feels hurt when something you find charming becomes an object of scorn for others, whereupon I felt like a heel and so now I heart TMBG u r all gay)

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember the first time I heard _Lincoln_, I was listening to "Ana Ng" with the biggest smile on my face... and then "Cowtown" started and I had to run from the room in horror.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

haha!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

As you could probably tell by my choices, my favorite TMBG songs are the sad ones, because their goofiness is balanced by the sadness of the lyrics they are singing; hence, "They'll Need a Crane," "Snowball in Hell," "Narrow Your Eyes" (which I covered for a TMBG tribute comp and you might be able to find on the interweb somewhere), etc.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I just checked, the website for that comp doesn't work any more. Oh well.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

And junior high was a bit more about Bret and Axl and Nikki and Tracii and c.

and there's NO ONE HOME
in my HOUSE of PAIN....

― Jay Dee Sah Mon (Kingfish), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

most fans i knew were speed chewing artgeeks. i was too busy listening to the swans

― kephm, Monday, 10 November 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick needs to stop being so OTM. They're fucking awesome at sad songs - "The Day", "She's An Angel", "Dead", etc.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll put my hand up as a huge fan too. Funnily, I hated them in the late 80s but I'd only really heard their quirkier stuff and also associated it with certain dorky people I didn't like - THAT is U&K to why I bet a lot of you don't like them.

Listen to the sad lovely ones like "Anna Ng", "They'll need a Crane", "Shes an Angel" or "Another first Kiss" and say you hate it, or even better the newer poprock/hiphop stuff theyve done with Soul Coughing like the fucking magnificent "Mr Xcitement". I wish/hope they'd do more of this.

Also, they kick ass live, and John Linnell is really quite cute. Suck on that, suckas.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I saw them live once and they were really LOUD! and told a funny story about running into Gavin Rossdale from Bush at a guitar store.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

When I was in high school, a party wasn't a party without TMBG, the Pixies, and the Violent Femmes.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:54 (twenty-two years ago)

With the possible exceptions of Nick Fury and Nick Cannon all Nicks are pretty sad.

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

How do you know what I look likel when I'm sad?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Two of the greatest songs from the '80s were "Ana Ng" and "Birdhouse In Your Soul", damn it. As the self-anointed Queen of Eighties Music, this pleases me greatly indeed. They Might Be Giants, therefore, get my approval.

(Oh yeah, and the only TMBG song I'd heard when I was old enough to be in junior high was "Istanbul", which I quite liked at the time. Then again, it's a cover of a really old song and covers don't count much, do they?)

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

IN SPADES!!!

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Whoops, I meant that last post for another thread but I guess it applies here too.

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked TMBG until I started dating boys who liked TMBG.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Two of the greatest songs from the '80s were "Ana Ng" and "Birdhouse In Your Soul", damn it.
Sure, they were good...but "Twisting", "Santa's Beard" and "Number Three" (both the english and greek versions) were by far better.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:07 (twenty-two years ago)

you knew custos would be on this thread

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

which tells you ALOT about tmbg

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

My best friend from high school and even now is a huge TMBG fan. Her brother and 2 sisters were all in HS at the same time and would all wear TMBG shirts on the same day. Due to this, I have probably been to 6 TMBG shows and even when she came to visit me in NY recently she dragged me to see Gigantic: A Story of 2 Johns. Oddly enough, we were popular in HS and pretty well adjusted.

― Carey (Carey), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I still like to do the Ana Ng dance.

― Carey (Carey), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Blount the Constitution guarantees of freedom from things like your last post

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

dave eggers too

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

My landlords and their toddler like their recent kids album.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I totally made fun of you people when I was in high school. But I had no friends you folx were all thespians and hugging all the time. Sigh.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Toddlers like them so adults don't have to.

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:31 (twenty-two years ago)

(and I can admit now that "Ana Ng" and "Birdhouse In Your Soul" ARE ace)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Last time I saw them they were loads of fun. Always liked em, no apologies.

― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i'll defend 'em. "ana ng" is touching and sweet and mentions the '64 world's fair. also i recently dug out apollo 18 from the jbr vaults and with the exception of "fingertips" it's a very sturdy, substantial record with better production than i'd remembered.

― Annouschka (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I like TMBG, only I was 21 and in college when I first heard them. One of the few things I first learned about through MTV believe it or not when the "Don't Let's Start" video was in heavy rotation.

Kinda lost interest after Apollo 18, but the stuff before that was great.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

that said, every criticism i've heard about the band i've pretty much agreed with.

(xp)

― Annouschka (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember talking to a friend about a mutual friend he was dating. "She likes They Might Be Giants," he despaired. "So do I," I responded. "Me, too," he replied, "but I like all music. She just likes They Might Be Giants."

"She Likes They Might Be Giants" could be the title of a TMBG song.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I'd like them better if they were more New York

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

these "parties" sound terrifying

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

re "more new york": actually, what i like about '80s tmbg is how much a product of the '80s park slope artsy/yuppie culture they were. not that i "liked" that culture at all, but i have an odd twinge of nostalgia for it.

― Annouschka (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:30 (twenty-two years ago)

COme on people - DOCTOR WORM!!!!!!! You cant honestly tell me anyone dislikes that song. Even TMBG hatas seem to like that one,

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Where the hell did that stray comma come from. Carry on.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw them open for Living Color at CBGB in 1984.

― Marcel Post (Marcel Post), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm curious that almost no one's mentioned their recent work (except for the kids album "No!"). They have a full band nowadays, and rock out like rockin' things quite a bit on their last few records.

See: "Cyclops Rock", "Boss of Me", "Rest Awhile", "Mr Xcitement", "I'm the Substitute" and "Til My Head Falls Off", all of which rock the casbah, and I don't care what anyone thinks.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

nerds can't rock

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

not AS nerds

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

like, they have to at least pretend to be cool

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

talking heads!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"rock"

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:39 (twenty-two years ago)

WTF is emo then, goato sexington?

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I listened to Factory Showroom the other day and the only songs I really dug were "NYC," "Pet Name," and "Spiralling Shape."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

emo is certainly not rock music!!

― goato mountington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

*cries*

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

nerds can't rock

-- goato mountington (dubplatestyl...), November 10th, 2003.

talking like you're 12 when you're pushing 30: c/d?

-- goato mountington (dubplatestyl...), November 10th, 2003.

― Marcel Post (Marcel Post), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

"i'm not in love" rocks!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

next you'll be saying the french rock

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:43 (twenty-two years ago)

jim fucking morrison

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:45 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre600/e602/e60252qlxry.jpg

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:46 (twenty-two years ago)

It's called Freedom Rock now.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:47 (twenty-two years ago)

turn it up!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

(the post which compared the mounto goatingtons to TMBG and J0hn's shocked response was one of the great moments of ILX history)

anyway, what about DEVO, goatboy?

Meanwhile I never liked TMBG. I liked Pavement, though? And Spacemen 3?

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:56 (twenty-two years ago)

The fact people on this board of all places are saying things like "but, nerds!" and "only nerds like TMBG and nerds cant rock" is fucking offensive actually, and I'm a bit disappointed. Though hardly suprised. Fuckers.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:04 (twenty-two years ago)

liked them then, like them now, just for the record.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Trayce, don't feel bad. He can't rock either!
http://bitchcakes.topcities.com/spencerchow/jess.jpg

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

The last time I saw TMBG I had to stand behind this one 8 foot tall rasta motherfucker with like 2 big gigantic dreads, he looked like the guy that ushered Luke Skywalker into Jabba the Hut's lair.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:10 (twenty-two years ago)

http://espn.go.com/media/pg2/2002/0131/photo/ogre_m.jpg

NERDS!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

haha

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sorry, TMBG are still good. There are about as many good songs on "No!" or "Mink Car" as there are on the first two. (Which, you know, just indicates that they've always been a bit spotty, I guess.)

The best two albums are John Linnell's solo "State Songs' (which is just phenomenal, possibly my favorite album of 1999) and the eMusic collection "Long Tall Weekend", which (despite a few bleh songs at the beginning) is completely great and has "Certain People I Could Name", which is beautiful for no explicable reason.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

actually my problem with tmbg fans is that they're not nerdy enough

― Annouschka (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I have never heard a whole album by this band. I had no idea they were/had been so popular.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

My favorite new TMBG thing = Bed Bed Bed, a lullaby-EP/children's book with artwork by Marcel Dzama. Granted, those of you who don't have children might not appreciate it quite the same.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:17 (twenty-two years ago)

It just occured to me how badly I want to shriek at all my friends who are heavily into TMBG. And I think almost all of them are fans. YEEEAAARRRGH.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthony, I think you should call them all, scream into the phone when they answer, then hang up.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope all your friends who have any sense do the same to you only ten-times louder for your Good Charlotte fandom.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

GOOD CHARLOTTE?

Oh the ironing.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Casuistry: Long Tall Weekend rocks, I have the mp3s burned to CD. I love "I'm the Substitute". Is "World that Swings" on that one? Boootiful song...

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The Nickalicious Impromptu Top-Of-The-Head TMBG POXX:

1. Kiss Me, Son of God
2. Dead
3. Letterbox
4. Minimum Wage
5. Alienation's For the Rich
6. Ana Ng
7. Lie Still, Little Bottle
8. Day
9. She's An Angel
10.Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes
11.The World's Address
12.When It Rains It Snows
13.I'll Sink Manhattan
14.Fingertips (ha ha)
15.Snowball in Hell

― nickalicious' pocket protector is overflowing (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Or POXV, d'oh!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I *heart* you nickalicious :D

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I just realized neither "Istanbul" nor "Birdhouse in Yr Soul" are on my list. Fuckity fuck!

Piuma is on the mookalakahiki, State Songs is AWESOME.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I'll do one of these too acksherly. No particular order or nothin

1. Mr Xcitement
2. Dead
3. Dr Worm
4. Til My Head Falls off
5. Anna Ng
6. Sensurround
7. Lie Still Little Bottle
8. Birdhouse in yr Soul
9. Man, Its so Loud in Here
10. Your Racist Friend

Oh sod that doesn't even scratch the surface...

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

haha they totally give me shit about Good Charlotte except when they realize I'm going to go into my "Why Good Charlotte is great" rant or if I'm gonna make them listen to the album.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG *like* Good Charlotte Anthony, that's why I laughed!

They're both poptastic bands, in their own ways. Hence the ironing.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:08 (twenty-two years ago)

re: "if they were more New York" - you know, jess, that they were living in a Williamsburg loft in the 80s. They used to hang around Ugly Luggage on Bedford Ave quite a bit. How NY can you get??

My "serious high school girlfriend" adored them. She called long-distance for the dial-a-song. In that nether-land between my going to college and the eventual demise of our affair, I stole an autographed poster of the band from my college radio station (sorry there WBRU). The TMBG poster-theft did not slow her fall into love with a 24-year old artist that she later moved to Chicago with; other, less tangible things things might have. I think her love of this band reflected the constitution of one of my tiny unfair seeds of hate for her—that she made me feel I needed to be "unpredictable."

Years later, i met up with her in New York and she told me that she was really into Cracker.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:34 (twenty-two years ago)

that's better than my story! damn you, Tracer Hand!

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I quite like them. I remain to be entirely sold on Cracker though.

― Matt (Matt), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:36 (twenty-two years ago)

i dont give a shit if they're "more" new york...i hate them because they suck!

someone needs to retake reading comp.

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

everyone is mistaking gabbneb for someone else today!!! (sorry, gb)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i mean, "gbnb"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i have changed my name to protect the innocent

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Sure, they were good...but "Twisting", "Santa's Beard" and "Number Three" (both the english and greek versions) were by far better.

Hon, I don't own any TMBG albums, though this thread is quickly inspiring me to get some. I'd be highly interested in sampling the three aforementioned songs, btw. I'm totally about great '80s songs. :)

― Pancakes For Breakfast! (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

wow! TMBG like Good Charlotte. cool!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

They actually have rather diverse tastes, if their Rage programming guest spot is anything to go by. They selected among other things Good Charlotte, Yello, Alien Ant Farm, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Run DMC (a hell of a lot of hiphop, interesting), Soul Coughing, Weezer, Cibo Matto, Nada Surf.... sure made for a damn nice video single collection, I'll say.

FWIW I dont mind Good Charlotte m'self.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:30 (twenty-two years ago)

rock!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

everyone is mistaking gabbneb for someone else today!!! (sorry, gb)

it's ok, TRCR HND. maybe i should change my name? anyway, while I don't know their details, I do know they're very much New Yorkers; I just don't hear much that's site-specific in them. Then again, there's more than one New York, and I'm not as catholic as some in that respect.

-- gabbneb

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

my TMBG story - ~4 years ago, a friend/friend-of-friends of mine was interning at NPR in DC. He's walking down the hallway one day and hears this raging funk band playing in one of the studios. He pops his head in. It's TMBG. (Tracer may know him, actually - J*el R*se?)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That punk?! He... no wait, I don't know him.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a fez from a TMBG show, but it has lost its tassel. My albums were stolen. John Linnell's jawline is heartbreaking, esp. when he clenches it during a video for (I think) 'Don't Let's Start.'

― youn, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:49 (twenty-two years ago)

geez, like every video ever for TMBG was shot on some Brooklyn waterfront. re, tmbg as new yorkers. this is EFE. exaggeration for effect.

― Carey (Carey), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Did TMBG really sing the theme song from Malcom in the Middle? I remember when they used to sing songs for that show Tiny Toons. CRAZY

― mclv, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:57 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG do the theme song for the Daily Show! It's TRUE!!!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 03:08 (twenty-two years ago)

(America's dirty little secret)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Did TMBG really sing the theme song from Malcom in the Middle?

Yep - "Boss of Me". They also did a lot of the incidental music in the show.

I remember when they used to sing songs for that show Tiny Toons. CRAZY

That isn't them. Ref here :

They Might Be Giants did not collaborate on the Tiny Toons music videos.

Unless there's something else you mean, but I cant find mention of it on tmbg.org anywhere.

― Trayce, your friendly TMBG nerd... I mean fan (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 03:17 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG do the theme song for the Daily Show! It's TRUE!!!!

Now I feel dirty.

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I was well into them until Apollo 18, then I... damn, i can't remember the last time i remember then.. they had some song about XTC and Adam Ant which i listened to and it bored me to tears, as did anything they've done since. Oh well!

I remember playing "birdhourse of your soul" when it first came out to some jockish dormmates of mine back at UC Irvine and they said without pause "this is fag music"

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:03 (twenty-two years ago)

No i remember that Particle Man was on Tiny Toons and so was the one about istambul/constantinople

― i remember, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:06 (twenty-two years ago)

um, I thought the Daily Show theme song was by Bob Mould.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

i believe hstencil is correct

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Particle Man and Istanbul are both covers - but hey, its possible they were on Tiny Toons, I wouldn't know to be honest :)

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Particle Man is a cover?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Because the liner notes to "Flood" imply otherwise.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Thank you hstencil, my world no longer feels tainted.

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:30 (twenty-two years ago)

fight the real enemy, Nicolars.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:38 (twenty-two years ago)

You knew custos would be on this thread
which tells you ALOT about tmbg
Yep. It tells you that TMBG must be excellent to attract such a tasteful and distinguished fan base.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Hating TMBG == Most concentrated form of hating fun.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:43 (twenty-two years ago)

It's more like hating Dave Coulier, but anyway...

― Nicolars The Insult Comic Librarian (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:46 (twenty-two years ago)

haha

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 04:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Dave Coulier???
Name does not ring a bell.
Please resumbit with descriptive amplification.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 05:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Particle Man is a cover?

Gah - no it isnt. My mistake, I was confusing it with "Why does the Sun Shine". Don't mind me.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 05:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Love them to bits, love them to bits. The last few albums have been a little under par, but the live shows are still glorious. Plus, I've met them a few times & they're wonderful guys, smart 'n' cute 'n' stuff.

― King Chiron (kingchiron), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 06:07 (twenty-two years ago)

ts: nerds vs. assholes

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 07:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sorry, they were my favorite band so much in 9th grade, I actually went to some of their concerts, and bribed the security to sell me their flaming orange "TMBG security" tshirts. Then I wore them. To school. Both of them. On consecutive days. I sucked.
-cry-

I lost interest when they started doing the "full rock band" boringness around John Henry. Before they were smug yet idiosyncratic for interesting nerds, after they were just smug music for smug nerds, the worst form of people. They are a smug band and I hate their fans a lot now. They have done a few OK songs since then I think, but as much as I might feel nostalgic when I hear them I can only shake my head and think they're trying too hard not to be smug but not quite making it.

― sucka (sucka), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 07:50 (twenty-two years ago)

That's the smuggest thing I've ever read that wasn't written by Rush fucking Limbaugh, good god.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 08:28 (twenty-two years ago)

smug smug smug smug smug smug smug smug smug smug smug

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm drunk, btw.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

*hands nick a drink*

I like their rockband stylee. The band of Dans and all that, its grebt! Smug, my arse. Which isnt smug at all I'll have you know. Shoosh Jim.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 09:36 (twenty-two years ago)

um hstencil you're um right but, uh, the song is performed by TMBG. So uh, DERRRR.

Nicolars, your world has been RETAINTED.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Nooooooo!

― Nicolars (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:09 (twenty-two years ago)

fucking hell.... how old are you people?

oh, wait, there's at least one other person here who was in high school during Flood. phew.

― Catty (Catty), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:19 (twenty-two years ago)

No, never. They sucked when I was 12 and they suck now I'm 28.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Flood and Lincoln are of course masterpieces and contain the nucleus to every "refining their sound"/"selling out" argument ever. Every once in a while I hear that they have made another halfway decent album, but I never manage to get up the enthusiasm.

I am shocked no-one has mentioned I Hate Music, though.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

In junior high I was into Al B Sure. In high school I discovered TMBG and loved them at first. Saw them live a few times, then my love fizzled.

― Chris Hungus (Chris V), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha, This Song's In (Parantheses)!

― Ricardo (RickyT), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:59 (twenty-two years ago)

What's that blue thing doing here?

― Catty (Catty), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Skimmed the I Hate Music thing, it mostly fails because she seems to think that TMBG are musical parodists (ie, Weird Al). A couple of 'em are pretty spot-on though.

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Tanya was a visionary, but then she had to go run off with that Russian playboy and sacrificed her career. A pity.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I never went to one of these 'junior highs' but I was all about Flood and Lincoln around the age of 13/14. I still take Lincoln out of the rack now and again.

― robster (robster), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

"Eurotrash Girl" is a really good song! Otherwise Cracker can eat me.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Cracker's best song is "Happy Birthday to Me".

― da nza, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

haha so i guess what we've learned is that un-serious grunge sucked more

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I can tell you how I feel about you night and day

http://www.xs4all.nl/~prism/pict/albsure/albsure_vf10.jpg

― Chris Hungus (Chris V), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

This thread has been beautifully retracked in a fine direction.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

you can b. sure of that

― atomic horseradish (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

alano b. sureington

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

atomic horseradish!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.chileheadsalsa.com/images/39076.gif

― atomic horseradish (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Cracker's best song was then made better by Chicks on Speed, making them completely irrelevant. But then, everyone would sound better covered by Chicks on Speed, TMBG included.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

"better"

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, nick otm, the COS cover is one of the worst COS songs.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Cracker is dumb. Stop talking about them, talk about They Might Be Giants instead.

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know very much about TMBG (the "Particle Man" found art video is basically my TMBG experience unfortunately/fortunately) but the song about how he's a bag of groceries on a shelf past the expiration date or whatever makes me laugh.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

There are only two songs my son likes me to play on piano: that one ("Dead") and Tom Waits' "I Don't Wanna Grow Up".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

If I try to play anything else he yells "STOP PLAYING THE PINANO*!"

*this is what he calls it

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

One of my favorite things about them is how they (mostly Linnell) can squeeze these lyrics full of existential angst into chirpy funny lines and pretty melodies. I mean, shit, "Dead" is a funny song, no doubt, but the chorus is "did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket, and was everybody dancing on the casket? now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want, or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do...".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

ts: what nick just posted vs. "i'm trying to put platinum eyebrows on these hoes"

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

All alone you get off on your own, girl
All alone you get off on your own
All alone you get off on your own, girl
Girl, girl, girl

http://www.xs4all.nl/~prism/pict/videoframes/albsure/Image6.gif

― Chris Hungus (Chris V), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Clearly the platinum eyebrows wins.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart.

― milhousalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

but what about Fountains of Wayne!!!!!!!!????!!!!!!

I like Good Charlotte, and Sum 41, and Bowling for Soup, and Blink 182. Kinda coz they have no cultural or social relevance over here, unless I was 15, or something.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG were, on the basis of "Birdhouse in your Soul" a kind of 1990 version of Edward Lear.

― MarkH (MarkH), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Fine then.. so who are the Moxy Fruvous and The Presidents Of The United States Of America fans here?

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and those confrontational World/Inferno Friendship Society troupe.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

[[pj2[4hi[12oe;kl3qje;2l3kj4nh2;4FDTYFTYF%E&^#&^37^&R^DFHJFHJF!K

― erico b. rakimington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

DB, you broke Erico. BAD DONUT BITCH, BAD! NO BISCUIT.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Until Matos said I didn't even know what TMBG was.

― mei (mei), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Fine I'm a smug bastard for pooping on TMBG. But how is college rock with hipster irony and egregarious geek-pandering not-smug? Never mind, donut bitch won.

― sucka (sucka), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sorry dude I was wasted when I posted that. I just don't understand how it's smug to like songs that are fun and sometimes pretty that happen to be written/performed by guys with nasal voices. My bad!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm still trying to figure out what's smug about dorks listening to dorky music by dorks. Maybe my teachers taught me the wrong definition for "smug"?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

what is today's smug?

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:40 (twenty-two years ago)

today's vernacular smug=appropriate, fitting like "a smug sweater"

I went through a brief PUSA phase my sr. year in college. Saw them at the Liberty Lunch in Austin. Ugh.

― A Girl Named Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

"Smug" = "They are smarter and more talented than me, and not nice enough to try and hide it."

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

If I remember my Daily Show credits correctly, Bob Mould wrote the theme and TMBG perform it. So your world is still partially tainted, Nicolars.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Tracer has already pointed this out.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

B'oh

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"Dorky music by dorks for dorks" = in-jokey & pandering, and dorks are not good, they are secretly suckups because they want to be hipsters inside but they can't impress anybody so they cultivate an unhip appearance to get attention instead. SMASH their fezzes and accordions. I hate dorks. OK maybe it's the fan's fault but not the band's because Ana Ng is a great song. OK, so maybe I am giving them much too hard of a time, because most ilxors have better taste than me. But if I can't smash TMBG, I will smash Moxy Fruvous. Has there been a "defend the indefensible" for that yet?

― sucka (sucka), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 00:41 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

I started listening to TMBG when I was 23.

I think I'd like them better if they were more New York
-- gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, November 10, 2003 11:25 PM (4 years ago)

It's nice to know gabbneb has always been clueless.

A band getting their first media boost on The Joe Franklin Show is an accomplishment of historic proportions.

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 21 December 2007 17:56 (eighteen years ago)

um, i still think they're awesome!

― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:02 (eighteen years ago)

hi morbs! I like TMBG very much today, and not sure what I was talking about there.

― gabbneb, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:05 (eighteen years ago)

I like them fine now (I'm 35) but I had never heard of them until I was in high school.

I feel old.

― Sara R-C, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:06 (eighteen years ago)

WFMU played em a lot in the pre-first album Dial-a-Song etc era.

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:09 (eighteen years ago)

I thought gabbneb was joking!

― nickalicious, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:16 (eighteen years ago)

I thought Gabbnebb was joking too.

I always hated them - twee as fuck.

― suzy, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:17 (eighteen years ago)

only he knows for sure

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:18 (eighteen years ago)

My 6th grade teacher told us that her favorite album of all time was Flood, which I'm only now realizing came out in the middle of that school year.

― jaymc, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:18 (eighteen years ago)

This thread is embarrassing. For me.

― nickalicious, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:18 (eighteen years ago)

flood and before, classic.
after flood, some rough going, the schtick fraying into a million bits.
something occasionally ok, like maybe every two years or more.

― Reginald Mantle, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:19 (eighteen years ago)

I didn't attend a junior high school. But, if a junior high school had existed for me to attend, it would have been parallel in time with The Summer of Love(tm) and If You're Going to San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair) and Mellow Yellow.

This disqualfies me from getting the joke. Someone explain it to me, plz.

― Aimless, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:21 (eighteen years ago)

I don't get how junior high didn't exist in the '60s?

― wanko ergo sum, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

My 6th grade teacher told us that her favorite album of all time was Flood, which I'm only now realizing came out in the middle of that school year.

Feelin' ooooooooooooooooooold.

I wore this tape OUT when I was in jr. high, yessirreee:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/TheyMightBeGiants-TheyMightBeGiants.jpg

― Jenny, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

Some people called junior high "middle school" for some stupid reason.

― Jenny, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:25 (eighteen years ago)

Jr. High existed elsewhere, but not my where.

― Aimless, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

Some schools just do grades 1-8 with no demarcation.

I guess the joke is that it's very likely that 12-year-old brainiacs were predisposed to love TMBG music.

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

Oh. Occupying the niche then filled by the Mothers of Invention?

― Aimless, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:28 (eighteen years ago)

Residents!

― wanko ergo sum, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:32 (eighteen years ago)

or Devo or the Association.

― wanko ergo sum, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:33 (eighteen years ago)

i am certain that i was not joking

― gabbneb, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

maybe i wanted them to drop some more place names or something, i dunno

― gabbneb, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

Massachusetts emigrants get no cred!

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 21 December 2007 18:44 (eighteen years ago)

TMBG stay very good through _Factory Showroom_, then start producing fairly boring grownup records but great kids records. And of course casuistry is right that _State Songs_ is amazing and crushes recent TMBG.

Someday I will write a 50,000 word article about the great difficulty of being funny while playing rock, and explain why TMBG is great (though this is not recognized by all), PUSA were occasionally great, and Barenaked Ladies were as far as I know never great.

The movie _Gigantic_ is sort of indispensable for making sense of the beginning of TMBG -- what I had never understood before watching the doc, but which explains a lot about the band's charm, is that they were supposed to be conceptual artists doing a project where they pretended to be a rock band, but then they sort of inadvertently in some kind of crazy and gradual Galatea-without-Pygmalion transformation TURNED INTO a rock band somewhere between _Lincoln_ and _Flood_.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 21 December 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

TMBG were always great and got greater exactly when John Henry was recorded. Even some tracks off The Else are good.

― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 22 December 2007 06:52 (eighteen years ago)

I know I saw them when I was in high school with a fake id at the Berkeley Square. I don't remember any of it except Don't Let's Start. I remember them looking really old too :), like maybe 30.

― svend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 07:32 (eighteen years ago)

ha I was pushing 30 when I first heard TMBG! it's interesting that teenagers picked up on them so quick, their initial NYC following was these sorta artsy yuppies. I knew the girl who sings on their first album.

― m coleman, Saturday, 22 December 2007 11:59 (eighteen years ago)

eight months pass...

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, November 10, 2003 2:39 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I feel like this summarizes both my relationship with They Might Be Giants and my relationship with girls in general: I resent them for liking stuff that I like, only they like it in the wrong proportion. My life is doomed.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 14 September 2008 05:28 (seventeen years ago)

Flood remains anthemic for me.

― PappaWheelie V, Sunday, 14 September 2008 05:45 (seventeen years ago)

maybe you and doctor casino should get together!

― s1ocki, Monday, 15 September 2008 01:10 (seventeen years ago)

elmo's/jw's high school graduation speaker was a minister who talked about how each of us should try to cultivate a little birdhouse in our soul.

― remy bean, Monday, 15 September 2008 01:14 (seventeen years ago)

*gag*

― remy bean, Monday, 15 September 2008 01:15 (seventeen years ago)

hahahaha, I remember playing Flood for a dormmate in my freshman year of college, and he said "This is FAG music. This is music tailored made only for fags to listen to" in front of everybody.

I don't listen to TMBG anymore, but while I enjoy the occasional listen to "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head", I can see how the band drives nails into people's skulls.

The weird revelation seeing them once live (for the Apollo 18 tour at the Coachhouse in Orange County CA) was seeing how masculine John F. was trying to act. "I just want to say FUCK. I hear we're on the radio right now, so FUCK I was wondering if there's anything I'm not allowed FUCK to say". Flex it, John. zzzzz. The show was alright otherwise.

― Mackro Mackro, Monday, 15 September 2008 02:43 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

Why is the world in love again?
Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
It's brand new record for 1990,
They Might be Giants' brand new album,
"Flood"

OOPS

― anatol_merklich, Friday, 5 June 2009 22:36 (sixteen years ago)

I have no problem admitting that I was all about TMBG in high school. I saw them play a couple times too. I haven't really listened to them at all until recently when I realized that Ana Ng is actually a great song and sought out the video on YT.

― sloth say hi to me (ENBB), Friday, 5 June 2009 22:49 (sixteen years ago)

teenage mutant bonsai gerbils

― Lamp, Friday, 5 June 2009 22:52 (sixteen years ago)

trans mutant bisexual gay

― Lamp, Friday, 5 June 2009 22:52 (sixteen years ago)

they weren't around until I was in high school and I thought they were stupid.

― akm, Friday, 5 June 2009 22:54 (sixteen years ago)

I remember reading a free weekly reader type newspaper interview with them and was a little shocked to see one of the Johns remarking "fuck Jesus" in reaction to supposedly having a Christian fan base. Having never seen this expressed anywhere again, I'm wondering if I imagined this or conflated them with Slayer or something.

― Philip Nunez, Friday, 5 June 2009 22:56 (sixteen years ago)

'Fuck Jesus,' he sniffs

― Kitchen Paper Towel (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 5 June 2009 23:22 (sixteen years ago)

loved 'flood' to absolute shit when i was an early teen and drove my mum insane playing it constantly... i've warmed to it again recently, nostalgia softening its wackier moments. its melodically very charming, and inventive in a way i could see irritating many many people, but i like it.

― Norwegian Wood Smash (stevie), Saturday, 6 June 2009 12:07 (sixteen years ago)

Still love love TMBG. When these guys hit they hit dead centre.

― Gordon Brown Reason to Live (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 6 June 2009 12:09 (sixteen years ago)

i thought they were my sister's dorky music. now i like them lots, mostly on record.

― Reggiano Jackson (gabbneb), Saturday, 6 June 2009 13:18 (sixteen years ago)

Never heard TMBG until college. Downloaded a couple tracks and my dorm roommate and I had a laugh and I never really went back to 'em. Never encountered this teenage fanatic strawman, though I hear horror stories.

― what u arrestin me for, innit (╓abies), Saturday, 6 June 2009 13:29 (sixteen years ago)

six months pass...

the spiraling shape will make you go insane

― The Détourn of the Depressed (get bent), Monday, 14 December 2009 00:29 (sixteen years ago)

I was such a dweeb on this thread.

Still like TMBG though!

― millivanillimillenary (Trayce), Monday, 14 December 2009 05:32 (sixteen years ago)

haha I was just thinking about this thread the other day while brushing my teeth for some reason?!

also, i thought it was started by tracer hand

― (♥_♥) (roxymuzak), Monday, 14 December 2009 06:54 (sixteen years ago)

It's been a long road from age 9 getting a tape from my uncle w/ Flood on one side and Lincoln on the other and loving the shit out of it to realizing when I was 15 that the Giants maybe weren't the coolest thing and keeping it on the d/l to being 23 and drunk-yelling "listen, if you can get down to Paper Thin Walls, you have to at least accept that TMBG has some goddamned merit."

Tbh from a personal developmental point of view it's a pretty straight line from TMBG to Ska to Punk to Everything I Like Ever.

― ENERGY FOOD (en i see kay), Monday, 14 December 2009 07:38 (sixteen years ago)

Flood came out when I was in 8th grade, so there ya go.

― kingfish, Monday, 14 December 2009 07:39 (sixteen years ago)

When I saw them live in 2002 they did the whole Flood album, it was great. I may have mentioned this upthread.

― millivanillimillenary (Trayce), Monday, 14 December 2009 23:09 (sixteen years ago)

eleven years pass...

Still live!
https://jonuleis.com/jh/

― G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 31 March 2021 15:46 (four years ago)

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