they would be a good late night house band. but maybe darnielle will step up
― Steve 'n' Seagulls and Flock of Van Dammes (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 05:16 (nine years ago) link
Johnny Fever, I think you should take your Colbert dream public ... or if you already have, then, like, MORE public. Start a campaign! It's a brilliant idea and should happen. The spring tour is just a bump in the road, doesn't mean it can't happen.
Just this morning I was randomly thinking about how many times I saw TMBG as a teenager (6 or 8?) and how many of their shirts I owned (probably 4 or 5?). I love these guys forever, even if I stopped paying attention.
Might have to hit that tour.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 08:35 (nine years ago) link
the Colbert idea really is great. he's supposedly not starting on CBS until around September, so there's still time that it's plausible!
― nakhchi little van (some dude), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 09:14 (nine years ago) link
I'd love to see that too, I think what's kind of lost on a lot of people who haven't seen them live is that they're both really funny in person, especially Flansburgh.
― Abstinence Hawk (frogbs), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 13:33 (nine years ago) link
Oh, September really? The dream is alive!
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 14:20 (nine years ago) link
they'd seriously be perfect for the job. personable, talented and versatile, very funny/quick-witted, quirky but can rock if necessary, based in NYC, probably not super expensive?
this has to happen. someone start a tumblr or something
― alpine static, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:30 (nine years ago) link
RIP early TMBG booster and showbiz legend Joe Franklin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFRjVXh9_8E
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 25 January 2015 22:59 (nine years ago) link
new video by Mark Marek!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okT-EgXUD0M
― Maybe in 100 years someone will say damn Dawn was dope. (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 15:30 (nine years ago) link
these lyrics from "Answer" made me laugh out loud:
You wanted tall I came in under 5'4 Then you asked for dark I tend to sunburn a lot As for handsome, well Can't help you there So make of it what you will It may take an ocean of whiskey and time To wash all of the letdown out of your mind And I may not be the one you expected but I am the answer to all your prayers
It may take an ocean of whiskey and time To wash all of the letdown out of your mind And I may not be the one you expected but I am the answer to all your prayers
― frogbs, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 01:45 (eight years ago) link
Dud.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 01:53 (eight years ago) link
like 'em, don't like 'em, at least watch their cover of Bills, Bills, Bills
it's good!!
http://www.avclub.com/video/they-might-be-giants-covers-destinys-child-221191
― frogbs, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 04:28 (eight years ago) link
i love that song and that band too much to ever watch that
― some dude, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 04:29 (eight years ago) link
^
― like a giraffe of nah (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 05:20 (eight years ago) link
They'll need a crane
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 07:10 (eight years ago) link
This is really really good!
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 17:09 (eight years ago) link
stop waving that thing around, i'm not clicking on it
― some dude, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 17:10 (eight years ago) link
LOL
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 17:12 (eight years ago) link
Hahahahaha!
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 17:50 (eight years ago) link
New album Phone Power is quite good - a few songs sound like obvious duds but there's like 13-14 really solid tunes there. Kinda weird that there's another version of "Black Ops" on there but it's better than the original. As usual the Linnell songs are generally better, two in particular are really really great - "ECNALUMBA" and "Shape Shifter".
― frogbs, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 03:46 (seven years ago) link
Didn't even know about this; will check it out
― Nhex, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 03:49 (seven years ago) link
It's just another collection of last year's weekly Dial-A-Song songs
― glandular lansbury (sic), Wednesday, 6 July 2016 04:07 (seven years ago) link
there was another one? i haven't heard any news since Glean came out
― Nhex, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 04:14 (seven years ago) link
yeah, but if you haven't heard it yet you wouldn't know. it plays like any of their albums and the songs are consistently good. I'd say it's about as good as Glean, maybe better, so if you like that one...
― frogbs, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 04:22 (seven years ago) link
ohh i didn't even realize till now that Glean was a DAS comp. and i thought that was their best album in over a decade!
― Nhex, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 04:32 (seven years ago) link
seconding phone power. i bought it back when it was a non-streaming release (early march?) and it's great. not groundbreaking, but quite albumly sequenced and a lot of really good songs (the first seven tracks are faultless imo).
― Autumn Almanac, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 05:16 (seven years ago) link
ohh i didn't even realize till now that Glean was a DAS comp.
The most recent kids album Why?, as well as being a sequel to No!, is also largely / sort of a compilation from last year's Dial-A-Song project - they did a song a week as a tiered subscription download or freebie youtube thing.
― glandular lansbury (sic), Wednesday, 6 July 2016 06:49 (seven years ago) link
I haven't heard any of the kids albums since No! actually... but you've got me interested
― Nhex, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 10:00 (seven years ago) link
Hate to say it, but found Glean to be their worst since Mink Car. Phone Power is a lot better yet still bitty. They were on a huge roll with Join Us and Nanobots though - best albums since the 90s
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 15:13 (seven years ago) link
I lionize the early stuff as much as anyone, but I think this is just as good - it seems to follow the pattern of the best TMBG albums where it's just one great song after another until the final third where things get a bit weird. It's even got those songs that pass you by on the first couple listens until one day you just feel like listening to them on repeat.
― frogbs, Thursday, 7 July 2016 16:16 (seven years ago) link
new song today. I like it a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-1SqAJHhFc
― frogbs, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 03:37 (six years ago) link
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, June 23, 2015 3:10 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yes
― ur-oik (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 04:07 (six years ago) link
not sure I like the new song, but I like when they sing together. it's also a bit outside what they usually do, kind of going back to the sound on John Henry
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 07:05 (six years ago) link
i forgot which tab i had open and for a second thought this was track four on River of Dreams
― the pleather of pleather paul (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 14:13 (six years ago) link
the lyrics to "When Will You Die?" really reminding me of a certain person right now
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2018 15:17 (six years ago) link
seriously
I'm so tired Of your lies And the evil things You're doing behind my back Are there crimes That you have never committed? I doubt it, sometimes I wonder When will you die? You're insane You are bad You wreck everything you touch And you're a sociopath But there's one thing That everyone's wondering When will you die?
Are there crimes That you have never committed? I doubt it, sometimes I wonder When will you die?
You're insane You are bad You wreck everything you touch And you're a sociopath
But there's one thing That everyone's wondering When will you die?
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2018 15:18 (six years ago) link
We've all known a few
― PaulTMA, Monday, 8 January 2018 16:24 (six years ago) link
one of my faves
― Nhex, Monday, 8 January 2018 19:09 (six years ago) link
has anyone ever written a review of TMBG (in recent-ish years, I mean) that basically says "Linnell still writes good songs, but Flansburgh does not"?
feel like it's been this way, more or less, for 20 years...just not sure if it's ever been acknowledged.
― alpine static, Friday, 19 January 2018 21:46 (six years ago) link
disagree! there have definitely been times where Linnell gets stagnant, as does Flansburgh, but they both eventually come back
― Nhex, Friday, 19 January 2018 23:06 (six years ago) link
hmm...if you can point me to some great late-era Flans songs, i'm all ears
― alpine static, Saturday, 20 January 2018 01:49 (six years ago) link
IDK it's pretty much always been Good Linnell > Good Flansburgh > Bad Flansburgh > Bad Linnell for me. I can't think of a single album where John F. outshines John L., outside of Apollo 18? It's tough to compare the two since Linnell's songs usually outnumber Flans 2:1. Kind of a Patridge/Moulding situation. Though when you see them live, Flansburgh clearly comes off as the frontman.
As for great late period Flanses..."Judy Is Your Vietnam" (basically the perfect Flans song), "In Fact", "Darlings of Lumberland" (which I think succeeds in the area "Cloissone" fails in), "Let Me Tell You About My Operation" and "Impossibly New" are all pretty great to me. I like more than that but those are the big ones.
― frogbs, Saturday, 20 January 2018 03:40 (six years ago) link
Good Linnell > Good Flansburgh > Bad Flansburgh > Bad Linnell
― Nhex, Saturday, 20 January 2018 05:36 (six years ago) link
I've always thought of Linnell as having the better songs overall, but I also think he has the better voice, which certainly plays a hand in it
― Vinnie, Saturday, 20 January 2018 06:17 (six years ago) link
New album is pretty good - especially if you've gotten burned out on them recently, since this is much more an album proper. It's probably their darkest set of lyrics yet; compared to the "fight the power" message of The Else this is more of a "everything sucks and we're all gonna die soon" type of album. Only listened twice but I think "Last Wave" is gonna go down as one of their greatest songs - feel like this is their "Wheel and the Maypole"
― frogbs, Wednesday, 24 January 2018 15:14 (six years ago) link
also "The Greatest" has one of the best opening lines in TMBG history : "They call me the greatest/'cause I'm not very good and they're being sarcastic"
State Songs >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mono Puff
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 24 January 2018 15:20 (six years ago) link
When I listen to Underwater Woman and Let Me Tell You About My Operation I get to understand how life sounds through the ears of people who hate They Might Be Giants when they hear their best material
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 24 January 2018 19:39 (six years ago) link
what does that meanthose songs are great btw
― Nhex, Wednesday, 24 January 2018 19:46 (six years ago) link
this new album is pretty great, top to bottom. i'm kinda stunned.
― alpine static, Thursday, 25 January 2018 03:38 (six years ago) link
fun fact about Last Wave - the lyrics were written to sync up to the Run DMC/Aerosmith "Walk This Way" video, which is why they make no sense in a vacuum
― frogbs, Thursday, 22 February 2018 21:50 (six years ago) link