Back in the late 1960s, Beat poet and Warhol acolyte John Giorno founded Dial-A-Poem in New York. Inspired by a conversation with William Burroughs, who featured on many of the albums released by Giorno Poetry systems, the phone service enabled people to call and listen to a poem. Fast forward to the mid 1980s and NY duo They Might Be Giants struck upon the idea to promote themselves by offering a similar phone service but with music – and so Dial-A-Song was born. It’s reported that between 1985 and 2008, over 500 songs were aired through Dial-A-Song.
Resurrecting Dial-A-Song earlier this year, the band have unveiled a new track each week in the run up to this, their 18th album, which features a selection of the new songs.
As you might expect from an act who’ve made records for children about science, and are best known for the single ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’ and the theme tune to ‘Malcolm in the Middle’, the 15 tracks on ‘Glean’ offer a fun and eclectic mix. From the choppy, punky guitar pop of ‘Erase’ via the bubbly Krautrock infused indie of ‘Good to be Alive’ to the 80s synth pop sound of ‘All the Lazy Boyfriends’, ‘Glean’ revels in the joy of diversity.
|
Elsewhere, there’s theatrical flamenco and bouncy clean pop, and wit and wordplay abound. ‘Answer’ playfully debunks romantic ideals, and ‘Unpronounceable’ pokes fun at manufactured processed chart pop. Where TMBG stand out is in their capacity to be quirky without being irritating, upbeat without being mawkish or depthless. Above all, though, ‘Glean’ is about fun.
They Might be Giants Online
|
