TMBG No! review
So a few months ago I bought Bonnie "No!" by They Might Be Giants. They've been one of our favorite bands since longer than we've been together, actually, and I picked up the disc to cheer her up after our cat died this past January.
Although it was purchased under sad circumstances, it's a cheery disc -- in fact, it's the first album than TMBG have ever produced specifically for kids. And true to form, it's become my kids' favorite disc to listen to, like, EVER. It's probably partly because we regale our son Bob with stories of how he went to his first TMBG show only a few weeks before he was delivered, and he danced along to the music at the time.
If you're unfamiliar with TMBG, they're fantastic. First of all, their cover of "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Band is one of my favorite covers, and it's one of the hardest-rocking songs with an accordian in it ever. Some of my favorite memories of live music are TMBG shows, too: I remember a Halloween concert they did in NYC once, where they encouraged folks to show up in costume with guitars -- the first fifty or so got into the show for free. During the show TMBG then called up their old NYU prof to direct the folks in the audience with guitars via chord charts to play along with "Horse With No Name" by America.
But more than that, they mix a geeky, intelligent sense of humor together with a great songwriting ability to produce memorable tunes. Tunes so memorable that they exhibit a staying power comparable to that which baked macaroni and cheese exhibits on the colon.
The unusual thing about "No!" is that although it's TMBG's first disc specifically for kids, there's nothing outwardly obvious that marks the content so: It's every bit as esoteric, weird and fun as every other TMBG disc we have in our collection. Hell, this is a band who make "Why Does the Sun Shine?" -- an odd science song made for schoolkids from the 50s -- into one of their own cult hits years ago.
So, as we're driving home from the store yesterday, Bonnie fires up No! and I proceed to hear my kids -- all three of them -- sing every single lyric in about five or six of the tracks. Laughing their asses off all the way through. I mean, they were into it. They were into it like stoned college sophomores are into a Denny's Grand Slam breakfast at 3am.
This is a retention they don't even exhibit with real kids' music, like Bill Harley or The Wiggles. This is hardcore.
If you have kids, buy this album. Hell, if you don't have kids, buy this album. It's great.
Comments
o/~ I came back as a bag of groceries, left upon the shelf beyond the date stamped on my bag... o/~
Posted by: Suz | May 19, 2003 02:25 PM