CD Review: They Might Be Giants

First up for review is the upcoming They Might Be Giants album, The Else. The album has already been released on iTunes, but the physical copy will be out on July 10th by Zoe Records. If you purchase the album early enough, you will receive a bonus disc with 23 new rarities including songs from the They Might Be Giants podcast.

The Else is very different from most of the other They Might Be Giants albums. It's their "legendary rock album" as John Flansburgh of TMBG put it, and it certainly shows with their more produced, arena rock sound. Don't take this as a red flag, though. They didn't turn into Kiss or anything like that. They are still They Might Be Giants, and while this album is definitely a new direction for the band, it's a good one for the most part.

When I first listened to the album, there were only a few songs that really stuck to me. The really catchy ones were "I'm Impressed", "Take Out The Trash", "The Cap'm", and "The Bee of the Bird of the Moth". "I'm Impressed" uses a heavy, distorted drumbeat by the Dust Brothers and goes into hard rock guitar strumming with John Linnell singing at mid-tempo. "Take Out The Trash" is a hard rock, female empowerment song sung by Flansburgh, and many have said that it's sounds a lot like Smashmouth. That could be a good or bad thing. For me, it's a good thing.

Up next are two of my favorite songs: "The Cap'm" and "The Bee of the Bird of the Moth". "The Cap'm" is a very upbeat rock song sung by Linnell, and it pretty much gets me pumped up for life. It's one of the few times that TMBG makes a drug reference, though I think the only drug they do is sugar and caffeine (coffee, baby!). "The Bee of the Bird of the Moth" features Linnell on the raw, electric sound of the stylophone with a beautiful horn section in the background. This song certainly captures the whimsical feeling that a lot of TMBG songs have.

It took a lot of listening for me to enjoy the rest of the album. One big surprise is the rock epic, "With the Dark". This song is basically made up of a lot of different bridges, but it makes for such a great song. You can watch the "With the Dark" music video here:

Another song that I really started to like was "The Mesopotamians". This song reminds me of their older stuff so much. It has such a retro-TMBG sound, and that's probably why I gravitate to it so much. Other good songs include "Climbing the Walls" and the very "Prevenge"-like "Feign Amnesia".

The Else is no Flood, Lincoln, or Apollo 18, but it is definitely an album worth buying. It takes a little time to get used to this album, but once you do, you'll love it and cherish. Of course, I'm probably just talking about The Might Be Giants fans. I really can't speak for the others.

If I had to give this album a rating, I'd give it 3 Toms out of 5.