Join Us

Pretty sure there are now AIs able to routinely create a typical They Might Be Giants song (whereas ones able to harness the genius melodic and songwriting spark of a John Lennon, a David Bowie or a Kurt Cobain will not be found for a still a long time to come). "Derivative" doesn't even begin to cover how hackneyed and even artificial this band mostly sounds on a purely musical standpoint, whether for their early endeavors or for this late career release. I get that hardcore fans of this act consider the many chunky quirks found everywhere throughout their discography as evidence of their humanity. But I see the exact opposite. Everything sounds as if it was created in a laboratory, with Flansburgh and Linnell applying all sorts of ready-made formulas to pen weird shit that is -- generally speaking -- as goofy on first listens as it is forgettable two hours later. In a sense, their shtick only sounds like a *simulacrum* of humanity for me. Not that the formulas of the two mad scientists don't yield to some memorable songs once in a while: the ones in *Join Us* ("Can't Keep Johnny Down", "You Probably Get That A Lot", "Canajoharie") are to be found very early on, for instance. In spite of the sarcasm I expressed up there, I believe both AIs and They Might Be Giants can actually write stuff that is at least vaguely entertaining from time to time, which is no small wonder. It takes some enormous musical skills (or huge data treatment power) to mathematically select all sorts of ideas so as to make your compositions sound both stylistically diverse and unpredictable. Which is why I won't give a 1/5 grade to this thing. However, there is a major issue that needs to be pointed out in *Join Us*, just as in any TMBG albums I've had the opportunity to listen to: when the formulas are left to their own device, so to speak, you end up getting so much dross that you just can't help dismissing the whole thing. In *Join Us* that dross is exemplified by inconsequential tunes such as "2082", or worse, by truly obnoxious duds such as "Spoiler Alert", "Dog Walker" or "Three Might Be Duende", that are polluting the end of the album so much that they ruin whatever good impression a couple of songs might have triggered before (like with the fun, bouncy, brass-enhanced "The Lady And The Tiger"). And yes, sure, the lyrics are witty, but so are the ones of Flight Of The Conchords, a comedy act who never really pretended they were a genuine band -- even if one suspects the latter might have ripped off Flansburgh and Linnell, among other influences. The point here is that it's honestly difficult to take They Might Be Giants seriously, as skilled as its core songwriting duo is. When the line between earnestness and parody is so thin, what it is we are supposed to *feel*? Pastiche could be the way to go, but unfortunately, They Might Be Giants never fully get there either. So we're just left in a blurry limbo, whose effects might include queasiness, eye-rolling and tiredness... After all, this is the major difference between The Magnetic Fields and They Might Be Giants, two acts that are arguably very close on paper. In the craft of the first, there's a distinct poetry, or a fragility, or an overall conceptual instinct, which elevates their output to the rank of works of art. Whereas They Might Be Giants remain desperately stuck to the level of craft. Enough to generate a cult following that arguably goes beyond a niche phenomenon now, as years went by. But not enough for a list such as this one. No, I won't join you guys. 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 7/10 for more general purposes (5 + 2). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 32 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 42 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 78 (including this one) --- Émile, il y a déjà une partie de mes réponses au-dessus. Il y en aura d'autres en dessous..

Fun once, but in one ear and out the other. Clever and cleanly produced, sure — but it never grabs me emotionally, musically, or even lyrically. Just a quirky little blip of a record. I might put it on while cleaning, but I’d never seek it out.

Huge TMBG fan, but this is derp.

Maybe I’m missing something, but this just felt like very average alt rock to me.

For some reason I always associated they might be giants with the 2000s indie crowd like car seat headrest or neutral milk hotel but after hearing this one my assumptions must be totally wrong. This was closer to like the bare naked ladies than anything else.

3 This one is silly Damn and it does not sound like anything from 2011 More like something from 89 2

That's definitely not a band I would listen to, unless already being waterboarded, for some additional mental suffering. Soft indie rock with nothing to hook on to.

TMBG are one of those bands that annoy me and Join Us is full of examples as to why. They're sullen, moody, weird oddballs who try to translate it into their music and it's just not fun. It's not even fun in a quirky or bizarre way, it's like they want to beat you into submission with the same sound over 20 songs, and it annoys me more because every so often over their long history they show they've got chops to do something fun, upbeat and more aligned with proper pop punk, yet they persist with this horseshit. I hated it, 1/5.