In The Hudsucker Proxy, the Coen Brothers' 1994 screwball comedy, Norville Barnes (played by Tim Robbins) is trying to sell his idea for a hula-hoop to a sceptical group of company managers. "You know, for kids!" , he enthuses, "It has economy, simplicity, low production cost, potential for mass appeal, and all that spells out great profitability".
I can picture the duo behind They Might Be Giants, John Linnell and John Flansburgh, making a similar pitch to bemused record company executives although, after 30 years in the business, and two Grammy awards, it could be argued that they have nothing left to prove.
Glean is their seventeenth studio album and links to the band's eccentric Dial-A-Song initiative which began in 1983. Initially, this was a song-a-week answer phone service but over the years it has become more technologically sophisticated to embrace weblinks, podcasts and smart phone apps.
In 2015, the band revived the project and started posting a new track with accompanying music video every week and Glean includes 16 songs direct from the first weeks.
It is not specifically labelled as a kids album, unlike their 'Here Come(s)' series covering ABCs, 123s and Science. Nevertheless, the song Good To Be Alive could easily be titled 'Here Comes Your Body' as they say 'hello' to the mind, head, eyes etc.
|
Many other songs are akin to quirky, tongue-in-cheek show tunes as befitting titles like Madam, I Challenge You To A Duel and Let Me Tell Me About My Operation.
The opening track, Erase, is the best of the batch with the bouncy rhythms being at odds with the faintly menacing lyrics of a love gone sour; the opening line is "You and I will be together when we shed our memory".
However, any serious intent is quickly forgotten in the camp melodrama of the other tunes. In Hate The Villanelle, for instance, Linnell sings in mock alarm: "Curses!, These verses are my prison cell".
The novelty factor of TMBG's bubblegum pop is no longer fresh but listeners who have 'got' what they are about will find plenty to amuse and entertain in this latest collection.
They exist for the inner nerd in all of us or else, they are, you know, for kids!
TMBG's website
|
