They Might Be Giants - Join Us

Whatever your feelings are about They Might Be Giants, we all owe them at least one thing, and that’s for teaching us that Istanbul was once, in fact, Constantinople. From there though, it’s a mixed bag. It’s nearly impossible for anyone who grew up in the 90s to not know at least a few tracks off their third and arguably most popular album Flood, but it’s also realistic to find that beyond that, there isn’t much else. A couple of Grammys and a few songs on the charts is about it. Why? Well, put on an album and decide for yourself.

No one can argue that founding members John Flansburgh and John Linnell don’t have the musical chops to be a success. Every album is an assortment of styles and instrumentation. Folk, rock, classical, grunge. Accordion, strings, horns, keys. Mixing and matching tempos and time signatures. They’ve got it all. They’re certainly original too. You know a Giants song when you hear it. So what is it?

It’s silliness.

The one thing that has remained unvarying over their nearly 30-year career is these guys are just plain silly. This might explain why they’ve even had recent success as a children’s act. Almost every song has some childish quality to it. Sometimes it’s the lyrics. Sometimes it’s the music. Sometimes it’s the vocals. Sometimes it’s everything. But the one thing they can’t seem to get away from—which apparently they have no desire to—is silliness. And, well, sometimes that’s not gonna cut it.

This probably explains why the start of Join Us is accompanied by a bit of an eye-roll, as if to say, here we go again. There’s Linnell overstating the Dylan-esq whine in his voice. And from there it’s track after track, no one in any way resembling the other, all having some redeeming if not admirable musical qualities, but none giving that wow factor you would hope for. There’s the chorus of “Canajoharie,” the up-tempo “When Will You Die” and oddly sweet and slightly disturbing “Never Knew Love.” These are the ones you might put on for a curious friend. But the rest? The rest is a sometimes commendable but often confusing, non-cohesive ball of silliness.

The die-hards will most definitely disagree, as they should. But it’s not that They Might Be Giants aren’t a good band or even that Join Us is a bad album. They are and it isn’t. But, you can’t help feel that they and it could be better. On the other hand, it’s this childishness, this lack of attention span that has made them who they are. So, who’s to say the status quo isn’t sufficient? It certainly seems to be paying their bills.

Rating
Overall: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Production: 4/5
Listenability: 2/5