They Might Be Giants - Nanobots

3/5/13

Given that I thought Join Us was probably their best since John Henry, I'm actually fairly excited about this. Tracklist apparently isn't out yet but it's supposed to be 25 tracks in 45 minutes.

Really? Maybe I'm just hitting the end of a very long period of being a fan (since the debut!), but other than the kids albums, the only thing I've liked since "Mink Car" was "The Else", and even that's more for the bonus disc than the main album. "Join Us" just never sank in, though it's possibly I just didn't give it enough of a chance.

(Granted, all that means is I really disliked "The Spine" and was lukewarm to "Join Us", if you consider the kids albums as part and parcel of their catalog, they're doing well.)

I've never understood all the dislike I've seen for The Spine, it seemed to me like a massive improvement on Mink Car.

They both operated on different terms - Mink Car had a sound that was all over the place, and I think a lot of TMBG fanatics disliked it because half the album was inferior versions of tracks they already released (through TMBG Unlimited, for instance), songs like "Older", "Edith Head", "Cyclops Rock", and "Another First Kiss" all got nerfed hard. The Spine swung too far in the other direction - the first half is just one mid-tempo rocker after another.

I liked The Else fine, thinking it was kind of a comeback, but Join Us actually resembles some of the early stuff, in a good way. I think the problem was that "Cloisonne" was the track that they always demoed off that one and it's the most gimmicky and irritating song on the album. The rest is really solid; not only are the songs good but the production is some of the best they've ever had.

First listen confirms my fears - it's mostly dull. There are some good bits, and I like the Fingertips-esque shorties but, meh.

on the other hand I've heard the same "best since Apollo 18/John Henry" talk that's accompanied The Else and Join Us, so looks like TMBG as usual. Amazon's got it for a fiver so I'll be on this tonight.

anyway. hearing it now I don't find it dull at all. its definitely stranger than Join Us. the sequencing is very odd indeed - almost feels like a mistake to have a bunch of real short song fragments just come out of nowhere, but I think that is probably the intentional effect. the lyrics are definitely everything they're cracked up to be, just a lot of odd turns of phrase, almost like a parody of themselves. now that i'm looking over the tracklisting, i can still remember how a lot of these songs go, which is a good sign.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I just think my fandom has run its course, as these things do sometimes.

I'm on my 5th listen and I think it's pretty great, especially Linnell's bits.

Seeing them next week. Nanobots is a fine album and there's a couple songs I'm looking forward to them doing live, especially the first two tracks. Their albums have been very consistent since about... John Henry? Apollo 18 was the last album of theirs I felt the need to own, but since then each album has 2 or 3 songs that are great and a handful of others that are pretty good. This is sort of faint praise, but I'm impressed they haven't dipped in quality since then, going on about 20 years now. They seem to have found their groove.

Live is a whole different story though, I've always had a great time at their shows.

I'll be seeing them May 31st. I'll be my 5th time seeing them - every other time I've been kind of shocked at how good they were. Flans is weirdly funny in person. I wondered if he was just recycling the same stage banter every show but I went on a big bootlegging spree a few years ago and this isn't the case. Anyway, one thing I noticed last time is that it was the first time where people actually seemed to want to hear the new material from Join Us, everything they played got a huge reception. I feel like this album will be the same. I feel like if you compare this new one to something like Lincoln it doesn't actually come off too bad. It's awesome how Linnell has been writing these weird little pop songs that feel both incredibly straight and so obviously odd at the same time, for like thirty years now - "Canajoharie" off the last one, "Stone Cold Coup d'tat" off this one. There's no one else quite like him.

Haha I reaaaaally don't think this holds up favorably to Lincoln or any of the first three albums. Could be that they've been doing the same style for so long that the novelty has worn off, but I think there's something special about the first two albums especially that they only recapture on rare occasion. Those two albums feel so thrown together, almost half-assedly, but the songs somehow stick anyway. Nowadays they're more content to rely on weird lyrics in a relatively conventional song, though you still get some great oddities like "Sleep".

I wouldn't say they've ever topped their first four (and I do consider Apollo to be every bit as good as the others), but they really were trapped in an odd situation where the amateurishness of their early stuff was a big part of the charm. By getting better they really got worse. I mean the playing and production on these last few have been first-rate but it still doesn't endear the way the early stuff did. Still, the last two albums are the first that really gave me the same excitement as the early stuff. They definitely got better every time I heard them and it's been a long long time since I felt that way about a TMBG album. I think they've recaptured a lot of that charm near the end of the album - "Replicant", "Darlings of Lumberland", "Stuff is Way", and "Icky" are all the sort of thing I could leave on loop. In some ways even better than the old stuff, because the duo TMBG would have never attempted something like "Lumberland".

i do think a lot of the personality of the early records is down to the 2 of them doing almost everything and programming these (surprisingly elaborate!) drum machine tracks. i don't know how many of their songs they've recorded like that since the John Henry full band revamp, probably a good number, but it'd be cool if they ever did a whole album or even EP like that.

I particularly like the last two albums largely due to the fact they really sound like the live band are approaching the songs in a way the duo would have arranged/programmed them pre-John Henry.

Hmm, I'm really not hearing much of a difference between these latest two albums and the ones before them. Well, John Henry does sound different - the songs were clearly written for a full band - but even on Factory Showroom, it seemed like they were going back to stuff beyond what a full band could do. I recall that and Mink Car having a few tracks in the tossed-off spirit of the early stuff, that I'd put on the same level as "Stuff is Way".

But I totally agree that the better their playing got, the less endearing the albums have been. "Stone Cold Coup d'tat" is a pleasant enough song, but I'll easily take an album of "Stuff is Way"s over an album of songs like that. If I have a favorite album of the later years, it's Cast Your Pod to the Wind, which is as close to the debut as they're gonna get nowadays.

i think the last couple albums have stood out and worked probably more because of the songwriting than the arrangements/performances. only have listened to Nanobots once so far but it worked pretty well, i thought, although the consecutive short songs felt a little too obviously "Fingertips"-y.

xp: I guess it all depends which aspects of TMBG really appeal to you. I'm fine with most of those types of songs making the "b-side" releases. The thing that IMO gets missed a lot about TMBG is that they're really just an odd power pop band and one of the reasons I really liked "Let Your Hair Hang" from Join Us is because that kind of song has always been their bread and butter. But I get that some people just don't dig that side of the group and those are the people who probably think they've just been ok since 1994.

Anyway, one thing I noticed last time is that it was the first time where people actually seemed to want to hear the new material from Join Us,

Seeing them April 24; it's the first time they've been to the country since 2002 and I'll bet 98% of the crowd would be happy if they play nothing released in those eleven years

the good news is that they really seem to be in tune with what the audience wants to hear. every time I've seen them they've done loads of stuff from their 1986-1992 era.

they've added Flood shows in three other cities, but not here :(

I've seen them I think 5 or 6 times now, and the Lincoln and Flood shows were probably my favorite ones. But try giving the newer material they play a chance, I've been surprised by what songs I've enjoyed most at their concerts. There were a couple songs on the Else that barely registered when I listened to the album, but really shone in concert. And if I'm being honest, I might enjoy the shit they do between songs more than the songs themselves.

They're touring the States in a couple of weeks when I'll be there, but it won't be practical to get anywhere near one of their shows. Not seen them since 2004. ;(

One thing you may find surprising is how many f-bombs Flans drops over the course of a show

I don't think they're touring with one this time but you absolutely have to see them when they have a horn section. Makes everything better. I can't imagine these shows being anything less than great though - they've gotten better every time I've seen them.

Just catchng up on a few albums due to the forecoming Aus tour, "Join Us" is pretty damn good on a first listen. I'm slack, I havent caught up since "Mink Car", geez.

I saw em live last tour in 2001(?), was realy awesome (the "Flood" show they did 2nd night as an impromptu thing). I dunno if thats the first time they did a full album/Flood show? The impression at the time was they did it because of 2nd show demand, and this was in the days before bands did whole albums as a "thing" like they do now, but I dunno. It was ace anyway.