Mink Car, They Might Be Giants Restless Records
- Paul Wong
- Dude, have you seen the size of that thing?” 20010911, arts, New Line greenlights, <br><br>Courtesy of Compaq
Gimmicky, goofy and completely adored for their endearingly dorky lyrics They Might Be Giants have been geeking out with synths for fifteen years. Now reunited after a decade with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (producers of their commercial near-score Flood,) TMBG are back with tightened production and winding hooks.
“Man, It”s So Loud in Here,” opens with a seeming vocal guest star from Decepticon communications expert Soundwave, and cruises into an “80s New Order nod.
Guitar-fueled lovey-dovey songs aren”t TMBG”s trademark, and on “Another First Kiss” the gushy goo-goo lovelorn duo of John”s navigate the uncharted waters like Captain Granville, skipper of the Mimi.
Explosive opener “Bangs” watermarks the slick UK duo”s touch on TMBG”s sound, twinging memories of the knee-slapping smart “Birdhouse (In Your Soul)” amongst TMBG”s clever wordplay “Bangs above your eyes your hair hangs/Below my mind your royal flyness I dig you Bangs.”
“Mink Car” steps and dances like an elderly couple at a wedding, dipping down into the nonsensical “I got hit by a Mink Car/Driven by a guitar,” and the joke is on the listener, as it always seems to be with TMBG.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon stand in the corner bouncing their Bostonian accents off the walls while TMBG boogie through the city that Larry Bird built on “Wicked Little Critta.”
“Finished with Lies” is a subversive tribute to “Lies” by the Knickerbockers and “La La Lies” by the Who and the song bounces along with Beatles-y “Getting Better” jangle pop.
It is getting better for TMBG on Mink Car with a wide variety of influences and parodies throughout.
Grade: B