a boring track-by-track journey through a new they might be giants record, “join us”
I’ve been a fan of TMBG since I was like eight years old. This isn’t really a cool thing for me to admit. I was a weird hardcore kid for most of my teenage years and now I make rap music and neither is really a good fit for “intense They Might Be Giants fandom.” When most people think of a They Might Be Giants fan, they thing of somebody who quotes Monty Python and wears graphic tees about computers. As a result, I temper my appreciation with a good amount of critical distance and, of course, self-loathing. Please join me as I express an opinion about the nerdiest thing on the planet while attempting to mask my obvious enthusiasm for it.
Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the album cover of “Join Us” is totally lazy and awful and the title is the same as one of my favorite records of all time, by a DC band called Bluetip. Both of these things rubbed me slightly the wrong way before I heard a single song. I will try to keep an open mind.
Can’t Keep Johnny Down - First off, this guitar riff is “There She Goes” by The La’s except moved up a few keys. That bugs me. This song really kills and is a great pop songs but I can’t stop hearing “There She Goes” in my head every time that little riff starts going in the background. But the chorus is really hot and almost makes me feel like I could play this for somebody as a “real band” and they wouldn’t immediately think of singing Muppets.
You Probably Get That a Lot - I’m not even finished with this song and I’m already forgetting it. The ring modulator stuff on the guitar is unique and cool I guess but the melody isn’t very interesting and the vibe is probably as close to dad-rock as TMBG has come thus far. The little one-note marimba solo is cool though, I guess.
Old Pine Box - I don’t want to like this song because it’s a Flans song and Flans usually reminds me of a ‘wacky uncle’ trying too hard. But it includes the phrase “punch a cop” and I’m not sure that any song with “punch a cop” in it is a song it’s possible for me to hate. Fuck cops, seriously. This song is okay I guess. Lots of acoustic guitar and vocoder and stuff TMBG probably shouldn’t fuck with but there is definitely a vibe here that reminds me of the “glory days” and that is a good thing.
Canajoharie - This song is great. Even though I am mostly mortified to tell people that I am a TMBG fan, a lot of Linnell’s songs really hit me in the right place and this is one of them. Jesus christ, this is a big hook. But “Experimental Film” and “Thunderbird” were great hooky tracks and the rest of those records sucked a million dillz in hell so I’m not going to get too excited yet.
Cloisonne - Holy crap it’s the contra-alto clarinet! Haven’t heard this since “Extra Savior Faire.” This song feels like a Flood-era b-side and that is a good thing. I hope there is more stuff like this on there. Actually, this is getting pretty annoying towards the end. There is what sounds like an attempt at a ‘free-jazz freakout’ but it’s more like just an endless saxaphone trill. Whew, okay it’s over.
Let Your Hair Hang Down- Remember earlier when I said a song was “the closest to dad-rock TMBG have ever come?” Well, scratch that, because THIS one definitely tops it. Big hooks, of course, cuz it’s Linnell, and I think I might like this with different instrumentation but the guitar tone is this big shimmering yacht-rock sound and there’s a ton of Majestic Organ and the whole thing feels overblown. In other news, whoever plays bass on this record is great. Gonna look that up now.
Oh, hey, it’s still Danny Weinkauf. He is great! He plays a lot like Graham Maby but that’s okay cuz Graham Maby sort of set the standard for TMBG bass players. Look at me being a big dumb nerd.
Celebration - Oh fuck, it’s one of these. It’s a “Crazy Bastard Wants to Hit Me” reprise. I understand that these guys like to fuck around and experiment but there are certain genres that just make them sound old and confused and silly. Remember when TMBG used to make fun of bad dance music? Now they make it. This is basically a bad pop-disco song played by people who should know better. Yuck. Some pretty awkward Prince-worship going on during the bridge that reminds me of hating life the first time I heard “S-E-X-X-Y.”
In Fact - This song would be way better if TMBG had recorded it in 1988 and done it all with synthesizers and drum machines. I’m not anti-band by any means but this shit is too busy with a live drummer tappity-tapping through it. I don’t have much else to say about it. It’s really boring. They change it up a lot towards the end but it sorta feels like another failed genre experiment, this time it’s a “James Bond Theme” instead of a “free-jazz freakout” but it still feels off.
When Will You Die - Oh hey, this is a good one! This sounds like it should be on John Henry. Linnell sounds young and excited on this one instead of sounding like a weary old grump. Also, I like it when they do these Burt Bacharach-style arrangements with all the horn stabs and stuff. Could do without the cock-rock guitar solo, but I do love the part when they introduce the band members and say “All of us are wondering when you will die.” This is probably my second-fave on here so far, after Canajoharie. It’s also a good old-fashioned mix of happy music and really dark lyrics and I dig that. NICE JOB OLD DUDES.
Protagonist - Fuck. I sorta think this group would be better without Flansburgh these days. He is just writing the same song over and over and it’s not a great song. I do like the backups vocals and they remind me of the good ol’ days but this is just another meandering acoustic guitar song that bores me. These tracks used to be cool interludes but now they are like three minutes of drudgery. Oh hey, I just skipped this song completely around two minutes in. Look at me giving no fucks.
Judy is Your Viet Nam - It’s a ‘rocker’ I guess. TMBG isn’t very ‘tough’ vocally so it’s kind of a weird juxtaposition when they try to do ‘muscular rock’ with distorted guitars and stuff. Also the drummer needs to calm the fuck down if they’re gonna do stuff like this. You can’t play a fill every two bars and still keep up a driving vibe unless you are Keith Moon, and I’m pretty sure this dude isn’t dead, so he’s not. I do like this song but I think I would like it better as a pop song without the ROCK aspect. But it’s short. And it’s pretty good!
Never Knew Love - Please refer to ‘Celebration’ except instead of bad disco it’s a bizarre attempt at what sounds like ‘elevator trance.’ Guys. Come on. We know you’re in your late 40’s. No amount of filter sweeps is going to fool anybody. OH HEY. It became a pop song. Now I like it again. When Flans sings like this, I dig it. I take back what I said about him not being in the band. Oh wait here is that shitty trance part again. I’m back to hating Flans.
Final song verdict: Sort of redeeming but only half of it, and not a contiguous half. I still think Flans needs to get rid of that beard.
The Lady and the Tiger - You think Mink Car would’ve cemented the fact that people don’t like it when TMBG try to do this sort of electronic rock thing. This is “Wicked Little Critter” levels of embarrassment. Also it’s three minutes long. This would have been a rad little “Fingertips” interlude but it is not a good full song.
Also, sorry to constantly refer to the glory days but I really think if this song was written fifteen years ago, there wouldn’t be this attempt to add a “driving beat” to it. I would love to hear this song with a straight no-drums arrangement without the hyphy handclaps. This is sort of a weird mish-mash. I get the feeling the Johns are trying to write more collaboratively but it leads to all of these half-good/half-forgettable songs that are frankly beginning to drive me crazy.
Spoiler Alert - I really think I’m right about the ‘collaborative writing.’ This is basically two songs at once. And the vocals (which seem to be from completely different songs) are panned hard left and right. And sung simultaneously. Serious nerds are gonna flip out about how this is “LIKE TWO SONGS” if you pan it all the way to the left or the right when you listen to it but the rest of us are going to roll our eyes and hit the skip button.
Also I don’t wanna get seriously into lame recording/production analysis but this song misses a great opportunity to ‘bring it together’ because, at the end, the vocals begin to line up with one another, but they remain panned hard left/right, which keeps the vocals from ever sounding cohesive. Not a good choice?
Dog Walker - I like this one. I like how the drums sound chopped up. Was it sampled and chopped or just gated real heavily? I’m a huge dork for even wondering that. I like the vocal pitch effect. Reminds me of Ween, but in a good way. Actually, fuck. That’s what this entire album reminds me of. A cleaner, happier Ween. I guess that is sort of a good thing? I’m having a hard time forming an opinion about this record cuz the quality varies so much from track to track but, honestly, that’s the hallmark of a good TMBG record.
2082 - Somebody must have put a song from Flood on here when I wasn’t looking. This is a gooder. It’s not too busy, not too maximalist. It sounds more like guys working with limited resources, which is good, and it doesn’t have that “throw the kitchen sink at it” vibe that a lot of the late-period full-band stuff does. I like this one.
Three Might Be Duende - See above. The harmonies here are classic. And there’s no attempt to step all over a good song with a bunch of bombastic guitars and rock drums and all that shit. Good song.
You Don’t Like Me -A boring song with a part that has a melody that is “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones, except performed by humanities professors. I don’t like this one at all.
~~FINAL VERDICT~~
To be totally honest, there are only like four songs on here I can imagine myself listening to in two or three months but those four songs are WAY better than anything these guys have put out in like over ten years so I’m on board. And for the time being, I’m going to listen a few more times and see if there are any ‘growers’ hiding in there. Not a bad record. But not good enough to make me feel okay about telling people that I listen to this group. In person, not on the internet. It’s easy on the internet.
