|
Album Review: Mink Car by They Might Be Giants (Released September 11, 2001)
Two Johns + Three Daves = Pop Mastery
Yesterday, I bought They Might be Giants' latest CD, Mink Car. I think it's their best album to date, but I'm sure that many of TMBG's most ardent fans will disagree. That's because I'm the kind of person who puts music first and considers lyrics secondary. For many TMBG fans, that order is reversed and, I'm sorry to report on their behalf that the complex, fast-talking vocals of "Anna Ng" have been largely edged out with much simpler and repetitive material. That said, Mink Car is a goldmine of poppy, catchy tunes that are amazingly well-produced and are gauranteed to summon up reflexive gasps of "this is damn near perfect" at random moments from any listener - no matter how skeptical or faux-sophisticate. And, TMBG faithfuls shouldn't despair: while about half of the album's tracks are pop masterworks as described above, the other half retain the original, quirkier mix of surreal lyrics with mediocre tunes.
In fact, listening to Mink Car, you get the feeling that there were two people writing distinctly different songs for this album. It's enough to make me wonder if the two John's (John Linnell and John Flansburgh, the band's brains) are finding their musical tastes diverging as they mature as artists. Maybe I've just never noticed it before, but here the songs sung by Linnell are almost always of the poppy variety, while those sung by Flansburgh are more traditional TMBG material. On the CD, the songs alternate according to their style, making for a refreshing play-through from beginning to end and providing an easy-to-remember programming algorithm:either pick the odd tracks for pop or the evens for more classic TMBG.
But it's not like the intelligence (which has always been TMBG's strong suit) is gone in the pop songs - just that it's been focused differently on this half of the disc. Lincoln and Apollo 18 shocked with quirky, wordy lyrics that often seemed self-consciously clever and were sometimes downright irritating to the uninitiated or impatient. Most people were too distracted trying to follow the auctioneer at the mic to pay much attention to the accompanying quick-riffed pop loops, so it didn't matter that the tunes wore thin after a couple of listenings. It was the surreal storytelling that captivated; the notes were there for mere scaffolding.
With the odd-numbered tracks of Mink Car, TMBG have succeeded admirably at making the music take on a life of its own. If the hyper-surrealism of the early days is in less abundance here, there's still enough of it to go around. Any chorus that starts with "I got hit by a mink car driven by a guitar," is clearly not of the waking world, after all. But, on the whole, the lyrics cover more down-to-earth topics, such as haircuts, the nightclub scene of the 80's, and misguided rock stars, albiet with biting sarcasm and a bit of postmodern reference. What is ingenious is how that sarcasm now extends to the musical material, reinforcing the authenticity of the overall package. Take "Man, It's Loud in Here" for example. In addition to biting lyrics, it features a perfect parody of New Order sound, complete with electro-drum/bass and overlaid electric guitar riffs:
They fixed up the corner store like it was a nightclub
It's permanently disco
Everyone is dressed so oddly I can't recognize them
I can't tell the staff from the customers
Chorus:
Baby, check this out, I've got something to say
Man, it's so loud in here
When they stop the drum machine and I can think again
I'll remember what it was.
Oh, and did I mention this song has almost perfect pop construction? Even if you love the deafening loudness of night clubs, the persuasiveness of the music will make you think you've been a fool all this time as you crank the volume louder to better absorb the tunes. It's that good.
A lot of what makes it sound so good is that the band is now actually, well, a true band. Starting with their last studio album, Factory Showroom, and continuing in Mink Car, the two Johns of TMBG have been joined by a bassist, guitarist, and drummer, lending songs a much fuller and tighter sound than ever before. The three-piece add-on ensemble has gone through different incarnations in the past few years, and on the present album they are referred to in the liner notes as "the three Daves." Now, quick,
what do two Johns plus three Daves equal?
The other half of Mink Car is more of the same TMBG wordsmithing that fans have grown to love, along with the rough and angular musical content that people like me have learned to tolerate in small doses. Here, a few of the song titles should sum things up: "I've Got a Fang," "Cyclops Rock," and "Wicked Little Critta." They've got the quirky, surreal lyrics that attracted many of the band's first fans and feel right at home next to the material of Lincoln. Except for the fact that they're better played and produced than in the early days, you'd never know the difference.
But, for me, a music-first listener, the cause for rejoice in Mink Car is the brilliance of its pop tracks. With a real band now backing them up on amazingly catchy tunes that still carry meaningful, if somewhat simplified lyrics, TMBG have forged a breakthrough album. If you pass me on the highway in the next couple weeks, you're likely to hear the tunes of this album wafting out my window - well, at least those resident on the odd-numbered tracks. And, if you can't stand the happy-pappy pop turn the band has taken ever since the success of Flood, rest assured you'll be well served on the even tracks with the classic, clever-clever surrealism that got TMBG started in the first place. Mink Car, in that way, keeps everyone happy most of the time. Or, at least half the time.
|
