They Might Make a Comeback

They Might Be Giants puts kiddie songs aside to make an adult statement on The Else

By Alan Sculley

They Might Be Giants will perform March 12 at Revolution in Fort Lauderdale. Photo by C. Taylor Crothers

If, as guitarist/vocalist John Flansburgh put it, the times called for They Might Be Giants to make a studio album that really made an emphatic statement, the group had only itself to blame for that predicament.
Although the band, fronted by Flansburgh and vocalist/keyboardist John Linnell, has been releasing CDs for two decades, in recent years it has been competing with itself. The culprit has been a pair of children’s albums (No and Here Come the ABCs) and a book/CD (Bed Bed Bed) that have given They Might Be Giants a whole new audience and a new presence in the public consciousness.

“It’s such a man-bites-dog story that an actual rock band would do stuff for kids that it completely overwhelmed the coverage of our regular releases,” Flansburgh said in a recent phone interview. “Our adult efforts were barely getting reviewed, and if they were getting reviewed, it was always in the context of the kids’ stuff. … I think we wanted to do something that was bold enough to get noticed on its own and not be sort of eclipsed by the natural, by the man-bites-dog story of our kids’ stuff.”

So They Might Be Giants made a daring move. The band undertook a surprising — and attention-getting — collaboration with the production team the Dust Brothers.

Where They Might Be Giants is known for catchy, quirky and often funny pop songs, the Dust Brothers — Michael Simpson (E.Z. Mike) and John King (King Gizmo) — made their name by bringing a modern, sample-based techno/hip-hop sound to CDs by the Beastie Boys, Beck and the Rolling Stones.

The odd pairing works well on the new They Might Be Giants CD, The Else. Perhaps what’s most surprising is that the Dust Brothers’ style of production doesn’t overwhelm the usual virtues of They Might Be Giants’ music.

“They were very respectful of what we do and what we brought to the party,” Flansburgh said. “I think they are probably the first people to realize that they have so much mad flavor in their approach that they could kind of overwhelm any of the people that they’re collaborating with. I’m actually very pleased with the idea that the band wasn’t just completely recast as a Dust Brothers [production].”

The Dust Brothers do make their presence felt, bringing a skittering beat to “Upside Down Frown” and crafting a hyper, vaguely funky rhythm for “Withered Hope.” But on songs such as the bright rockers “The Cap’m” and “Feign Amnesia,” the production is conventional enough that one would not peg them as Dust Brothers tracks.

In fact, several of the songs co-produced by They Might Be Giants with longtime collaborator Patrick Dillett (such as “I’m Impressed,” with its robotic touches, and “Careful What You Pack,” with its icy electronic elements) are as sonically interesting as the Dust Brothers’ productions.

Still, what speaks loudest on The Else is the sheer quality of the music.
That was not always the case for They Might Be Giants, which started out as a duo of Flansburgh and Linnell before expanding to a full-fledged band that now includes Dan Solder Miller (guitar), Danny Weinkauf (bass) and Marty Beller (drums).

On early records — the 1986 self-titled debut, Lincoln (1988) and Flood (1990) — the group’s lyrics, which were at various turns brainy, clever and downright funny, frequently overshadowed the music. That’s not to say the songs didn’t have strengths of their own. They were usually catchy and well-crafted, but, stylistically, they were all over the map. There was also a kitsch factor that caused some to view They Might Be Giants as more of a novelty than a band that would go on to such longevity.

As the group’s career progressed, though, the musical side of the songwriting grew sharper, and on The Else, the music may actually be the CD’s biggest selling point.

Flansburgh said writing top-drawer material was a priority for The Else, and he and Linnell wanted to capitalize on the best aspects of studio technology and the live energy of the band.

“We want to make really intense, ultra-vivid recordings,” he said. “Sometimes it’s actually easier to achieve that with our freaky tool box of electronic stuff. And actually getting back to the Dust Brothers, one of the really nice things about working with them is that they were completely comfortable with that challenge. They work on that exact same issue all the time. They’re always bridging between live players and electronic stuff.”

With The Else now nearly six months old, the group is beginning a second tour that Flansburgh hopes will draw more attention to the new CD and They Might Be Giants as a regular band, rather than its side venture into children’s music.

“We’ve got a big stage show planned and all these new songs to play,” he said. “So we’re very excited.”

They Might Be Giants will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Revolution, 200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased at www.jointherevolution.net or www.ticketmaster.com.