They Might Be Giants

[wanginst!munsell!pac (Paul Czarnecki)]

I first heard "They Might Be Giants" when they opened for the
Birdsongs at Nightstage in Cambridge about a month ago

There are only two people in the ban but they make up for quantity
with quality.  John Flanburgh plays lead guitar and does most of the
vocals, while John Linnell switches between accordion and baritone
sax(!).  (Or is it the other way around?)

They present a good stage presence, jumping around, gesticulating
wildly, laying down on the floor etc.  There was a pretty stupid
audience participation thing, but we can ignore that.  Although the
show was very good, most of the music was taped and they just played
the parts that two people could play live.  Quite often, the lead
guitar was actually lead "air" guitar.  I really thought that that was
going too far.

It's kinda hard to describe their sound.  It's sorta like if Frank
Zappa and Goodly and Creme were to write lyrics to Wall of VooDoo
songs and let the Residents play during a Country Western wedding
reception.  At times they can sound harsh (Puppet Head, Everything
Right), and at times smooth (Hide Away Folk Family, The Day), at times
they can like like "good ol' boy"s (Alienation's For the Rich, Number
Three), and at times they can sound mutant (Boat of Car, Chess Piece
Face, Rabid Child(beginning)).  They are extremely versatile and
humorous.  It is obvious that these are talented musicians who enjoy
their "work" and that this is not Corporate Rock.

The write wonderful lyrics about wonderful topics.  The melodies are
usually pretty good, but at times you can tell they were just lazy
because about a third of the melodies are close to identical.  They
aren't note for note identical, but rather just very similar to each
other, falling chromatic scales are very prominent.  There is a heavy
amount of lyrical repetition, but I guess that is ok.

Since they strong point is lyrics, I thought I'd include some here so
you can get a flavor for what they write like.


			 -- She's An Angel --
				   
		    I met someone at the dog show
		     She was holding my left arm
     But everyone was acting normal so I tried to look nonchalant
		  We both said, "I really love you,"
		     The Shriners loaned us cars
   We raced up and down the sidewalk twenty thousand million times
				   
	       Why did they send her over anyone else?
       How should I react?  These things happen to other people
		  They don't happen at all, in fact
				   
		     When you following an angel
       Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?
		Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead
	 Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things
		  I heard they have a space program
	     When they sing you can't hear there's no air
	      Sometimes I think I kind of like that and
		Other times I think I'm already there
				   
				   
			  -- Boat of Car --
				   
		       I took my boat for a car
		       I took my car for a ride
		    I was trying to get somewhere
	 But now I'm following the traces of your fingernails
	   That run along the windshield on the boat of car
       Traces of your fingernails that run along the windshield
			  On the boat of car
				   
				   
		   -- Alienation's For the Rich --
				   
			  I got to get a job
			 Got to get some pay
		   My son's gotta go to art school
		      He's leaving in three days
		      And the TV's in Esperanto
		     You know that that's a bitch
		    But alienation's for the rich
		  And I'm feeling poorer every day.
				   
				   
		     -- Hide Away Folk Family --
				   
			Hide away folk family
		   Or else someone's gonna get you
			Hide away folk family
			   Better hide away
				   
		 Tippy-toe to the front door, Mother
	    Because there's a guy with a long, long fuse.
   And the one thing you can't hide is all the fear you fell inside
	       As the fuse is spelling out these words
				   
		   Tippy-toe to the flat-bed Father
	       Because they're pouring out our gasoline
 And sadly the cross-eyed bear's been put to sleep behind the stairs
		 And his shoes are laced with irony.
				   
				   
			  -- Rabid Child --
				   
	       Rabid child stays at home, talks on a CB
	  Truckers pass calling out their handles to the kid
	Chess Piece Face and The Big Duluth call her every day
     "Hammer down" and "rabbit ears" are the only words they know
	 If you pass the rabid child say "hammer down" for me
			   The rabid child

If you want to hear what they sound like dial their free Dial-A-Song
and booking service telephone answering machine.  The number is (718)
387-6962.  Like they said in Cambridge, it's free if you call from
work.  They are currently touring "The South."  I wholeheartedly
recommend seeing them and buying their album ("They Might Be Giants",
A-HON 002 on Bar None Records, PO Box 1704, Main Post Office, Hoboken
NJ, 07030, (201) 795-4785)

					pZ
--
			       Paul Czarnecki -- My newsfeed's in Esperanto
	{{harvard,ll-xn}!adelie,{decvax,allegra,talcott}!encore}!munsell!pz