Also, I just found out that Yukihiro Takahashi was the engineer for The Else. What a bizarre piece of trivia...how the hell did that happen? AFAIK he doesn't even engineer his own albums.
― frogbs, Friday, 25 February 2011 14:49 (thirteen years ago) link
have you guys heard the new album yet?
it's pretty good - supposedly a return to the Flood era but most of the tracks are guitar/bass/drums which few of the early songs were
still, after a few listens, it's really growing on me. is almost definitely their best since, say, Factory Showroom, or maybe even Apollo 18
― frogbs, Monday, 25 July 2011 14:09 (twelve years ago) link
bought it, haven't listened yet. last one i heard (the spine?) was kind of awful, but i'm optimistic about this one. and anyway, they're a staple in my house because i have a little kid who likes the kids records.
― tylerw, Monday, 25 July 2011 14:43 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think there's any shame in abandoning the tired and stale grown-up records in favour of the fun & delightful kids records at this stage
― Booger T. Jones (sic), Monday, 25 July 2011 15:01 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, there's a lot on those kids records that could've easily been on flood and no one would blink an eye.
― tylerw, Monday, 25 July 2011 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
yeah I don't think TMBG is anything more than "decent" as a real rock band. the kids albums are actually pretty good and play to their strengths a lot more. the ABCs album is a lot better for adults than I thought it would be. there's a lot of humor on there that's pretty subtle. that said, Join Us is definitely worth a few listens - it doesn't have the colorful, lush arrangements of the first few albums but the songs are pretty addictive. kind of sounds like a mix between The Else and the collection of Podcast songs that came with it.
btw Tyler - The Spine is definitely one of their worst so don't let it discourage you
― frogbs, Monday, 25 July 2011 15:34 (twelve years ago) link
"Can You Find It?" is such a great song. One of Linnell's very best. These songs used to be about unrequited love or the destruction of a relationship and now it's about finding letters on a graphic. But it sure is beautiful.
― frogbs, Monday, 25 July 2011 15:41 (twelve years ago) link
hate to triple post here but I have "Celebration" on repeat and it totally rules.this new album is great.
― frogbs, Tuesday, 26 July 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
haha was gonna post "rip frogbs" when i saw this thread was revived
― yelling "free dom passy" til you know i'm aspie (some dude), Tuesday, 26 July 2011 21:40 (twelve years ago) link
my immediate favorite on first listen is "When Will You Die," which i have weird feelings about because it was obviously written before Osama Bin Laden's death but listening to it so soon after it's hard not to think of how it could easily be interpreted or appropriated as not at all ironic or comedic in that context
― yelling "free dom passy" til you know i'm aspie (some dude), Tuesday, 26 July 2011 21:44 (twelve years ago) link
"2082" is working for me in it's subtle way.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 26 July 2011 22:23 (twelve years ago) link
i don't think "when will you die?" is about anyone in particular, but it fits so well with OBL, as people actually were celebrating on the streets when he was killed
― frogbs, Thursday, 28 July 2011 14:35 (twelve years ago) link
also, i think it may be the best song here. can't get enough of it
― frogbs, Thursday, 28 July 2011 14:36 (twelve years ago) link
Persevering with this. It might be too early to speak (The Else has only just grown on me ffs) but it really does seem like Linnell's songwriting is severely outpacing Flansburgh's, e.g. Let Your Hair Hang Down is one of my favourite TMBG songs of all time and Cloisonné is so self-conscious (even by their standards) that I can't stand hearing it.
― the internet and its bountiful crop of aphex twin (Schlafsack), Friday, 2 September 2011 04:37 (twelve years ago) link
Linnell's songwriting is severely outpacing Flansburgh's
isn't this basically true of their entire catalog to different extents though?
― some dude, Friday, 2 September 2011 11:08 (twelve years ago) link
It is, but on this album it feels like Linnell's at his peak and Flansburgh is just phoning it in, I mean a really really stark difference.
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 2 September 2011 11:23 (twelve years ago) link
i actually thought Flansburgh was less annoyingly broad on this album than he'd been on the last few
― some dude, Friday, 2 September 2011 11:34 (twelve years ago) link
Join Us is really holding up for me, definitely their best since John Henry or Factory Showroom.
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Friday, 2 September 2011 13:59 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i;ve been enjoying it, haven't listened to it too much, but it seems pretty strong.
― tylerw, Friday, 2 September 2011 15:05 (twelve years ago) link
Have we done a TMBG albums poll?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 2 September 2011 17:57 (twelve years ago) link
nah...i always felt like the consensus on their best albums is so obvious that it'd almost not be worth it. maybe non-Flood or post-Flood only would make it slightly more interesting?
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:45 (twelve years ago) link
I was always about the gimmicky TMBG but John Henry completely flipped my perception. Such a surprise coming as it did after "Why Does the Sun Shine?" Now I'd rate The Spine above Flood. Yes I know.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:53 (twelve years ago) link
(ironically I once flipped a car while listening to John Henry)
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:54 (twelve years ago) link
John Henry was the last of the early albums i heard and i've just never warmed to it
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:55 (twelve years ago) link
It's great! It's the first time they really allowed themselves to be properly melodic at the expense of silly noises. It even declines properly at the end like a real album </geir>
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:59 (twelve years ago) link
I remember buying it at launch (off the back of "Why Does etc etc" as mentioned above, so thinking "ugh this can't end well") and being completely blown away.
This week I read that Factory Showroom is Flansburgh's favourite album, which makes me warm inside because I absolutely adored it from start to finish.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:02 (twelve years ago) link
yeah FS is much more my speed, the only album where i forgive them for not stuffing 18+ songs onto the record
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:05 (twelve years ago) link
The Spine is nowhere near as terrible as 'the worst evah TMBG album' should be
That's 'Mink Car's job
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:20 (twelve years ago) link
Now I'd rate The Spine above Flood. Yes I know.
Ugh, that's just crazy talk!! I mean, really... If you said "Mink Car" above "Flood", I'd be down with that, though. ;-)
It doesn't sit well in my mind, either - "Factory Showroom" has higher highs (but is a bit inconsistent).
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:22 (twelve years ago) link
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Saturday, 3 September 2011 11:20 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Mink Car always grated on me a bit because I read some early press touting it as a return to Flood. That's always dangerous, especially in this case because it pronounces just how hard the album is trying to be Flood. It's got some great songs, but as a piece it just doesn't hold up that well, and it really tails off at the end. Ending with "Working Undercover for the Man"? Seriously?
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:29 (twelve years ago) link
Absolutely. The Spine seemed to be a huge return to something resembling TMBG sanity after Mink Car, when even Linnell was writing drivel like Wicked Little Critta. Any album with 'Mr Xcitement' on it can only be the lowest of the low.
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link
imo any of the first 6 albums is better than any of the albums since, they're kind of stuck in a perpetual chamber of diminishing returns
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:45 (twelve years ago) link
I suppose if you go there for the novelty you're going to be let down by the new stuff. Linnell's songwriting is sharper than ever imo.
Any album with 'Mr Xcitement' on it can only be the lowest of the low.
This probably contradicts what I just said but fuck it: That song I don't mind so much, probably because it's a new idea, and it's always a joy to see what these guys do with new ideas. The Spine is relatively bereft of ideas but my god is it a well-crafted album.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
But yeah, Wicked Little Critta should have been a B side.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:53 (twelve years ago) link
The Spine is not even remotely shit. It's good!
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:54 (twelve years ago) link
i like a lot of the new stuff (and as said upthread am pretty into Join Us) fwiw, also way to go on being presumptuous AND condescending about me on liking the band for "novelty" songs just because i prefer the early stuff
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
The last song on the new album "You Don't Like Me" is stunningly good.
― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:58 (twelve years ago) link
yeah that's great
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:59 (twelve years ago) link
"you like... cutting with a fork" is great. btw is there an albums poll? I can't find one.
some dude: I did make a wrong assumption and I'm sorry for that, I had no intention of hanging you out to dry. Some people do just want novelty from TMBG but that's cool too.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:02 (twelve years ago) link
i think hardcore fans just tend to overreact to the band being widely seen as a 'comedy' act or 'weird' or w/e. i respect the songcraft and the subtleties and emotions of what they're doing but i think the humor and left field absurdity and kitchen sink instrumentation and sound effects are also an important and inseparable part of the whole package.
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:07 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, and as TMBG fans I think we all get a bit tired of being seen as novelty chasers. I gave up talking up the depth of their music a long time ago.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:09 (twelve years ago) link
You Don't Like Me initially struck me as a really weird closer, though I know appreciate the way the album winds down. It's very unlike other TMBG albums.
― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:12 (twelve years ago) link
*now
yeah at this point it wouldn't be hard to make like a mix CD of their best 'serious' or 'straightforward' songs but it feels like wasted effort to overstate that side of their music (xpost)
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
That would be awesome! It'd also be inevitably loaded with Linnell songs but meh
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:16 (twelve years ago) link
hey Flans has "Narrow Your Eyes" and arguably "Pet Name"
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:18 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, the Linnell/Flans ratio would be similar to the Partridge/Moulding ratio imo
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:19 (twelve years ago) link
"Careful What You Pack" is a Flans, yeah?
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:20 (twelve years ago) link
yeah...was just listening to that the other day, good one
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:25 (twelve years ago) link
http://tmbw.net users rank every song (you can see what ranking each song has) but I can't find a full chart anywhere.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:32 (twelve years ago) link