In the world of the 1990s "unique stone", the term "main-labut dut" was sent in conjunction with expectations. Happily, your favorite band is finally getting noticed, making fun of the fact that a major label machine can cheat and spit on them, leaving the shiny and shiny system of the said group awake.
Leave it to two genres like John Flansburgh and John Linnell to expand that popular spot: They may be the third album and the first label, Flooding, which came out 30 years ago this month, still stands as the time of the party's decline. “In many ways, when people say standard & # 39; We have signed and acted sweetsThe news, we had the opposite experience, and I feel so happy that it was so much better, ”Flansburgh said now. Instead of kowtow to its new facilities in Elektra, the two-man band relies heavily on one-of-a-kind music offerings in the world: one contractor, the other a guitarist, who used to use the percussion metronome and play around with Casio, vocals let her preach the words "No one in the world has ever found what they want and you're beautiful" with a cheery pop self-delusion background. John's two had gone to school together in New York, lived in the same apartment building in Brooklyn, and released the sum total of They Might Be Giants in 1986 (entitled "Saved Start"), followed by Lincoln ("Ana Ng") in 1988, both at Bar / none.
In what would be their third beautiful release, the couple have signed with Elektra. But "they never really relied on signing … they were playing the songs they wanted to play," explains Sue Drew, ex-VP of Elektra for A&R, in a TMBG hardcover Gigantic: A Tale Of Two Johns (DVD is currently $ 88.50 on Amazon). “They have opened the doors of other artists. They've been a great rival, and I think their importance cannot be understated. ”
Looking back on the Elektra revolution, Flansburgh explains, “Until that time, we had been working as bedrooms. We had been making 4-track records for a few things, and it was all home-selling. And that's a hard thing to change. I think our first albums have a magical quality to it, but it's like the magical quality of something completely integrated and just working with these invisible tools and finding ways to make it work. Good thing about it Flooding is that sonically satisfying, and part of that is that there was some existing technology that mimicked the way we worked. And then another thing is that we have this huge budget because we have a very well-written company, so it was a good thing for the stars to align then. ”But, as Drew said, it is impossible to count how many other bands have been influenced by the fearless exploration of the content FloodingSo many great songwriters.
As the Johns proclaim in Flooding promo video, the album contributed 19 tracks instead of the standard 10 at the time (“and why ours the record is better, "retains Flansburgh in the video.) The college-rock world was entering that year with albums like Jane & # 39; s Addiction & # 39; s Culture De Lo Habitual and Sonic Youth & # 39; s Goo, but the TMBG classification is even separated from those alterna levels. If there is one word to describe that you wish to excel Flooding, "it's cinema." Most of these songs are up (or over) for two minutes; one has only two words (the hilarious and-point "Minimum Wage," with only the title of the song and the whistling sound to convey the cattle-like treatment of the less active.
But any of its tracks can be moved to their own genres, their short films – such as "Dead," are only supported by the visual piano while passing words that describe repetition as an outdated bag ("I'm still alive and not wanting to do it"). The pesky barbed-wire parameters of genre description are thrown aside, as TMBG pulls into the western world ("Lucky Ball & Chain"), take a political stance ("Your Racial Friend"), writes a narrative about "Particle Man" and his signs, and provide a love story focused on the lines of the past decade (“Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love”). Even though 30 years have passed, Flooding it never sounds like a day, but it is compelling – a healthy and sublime sonic journey that leaves you breathless to see where it ends, no matter how many times you've heard it.
The album releases her orchestral flourish, the intro asking "Why is the world in love again?" And it answers its question by announcing the "new record / 1990." Then it beats on the record (with the band) the excellent song, "The Birdhouse in Your Soul," a passionate request for love from the protective sun of the night. The "birdhouse" harp extends beyond intolerance to the direct bearing ("Blue canary in the outlet by the switch switch / Who's watching it"), an alchemic creative moment that led to the song closing the group's performances. (Elektra reportedly sold promotional night lights.)
They could be Giants spending most of their big recording budget on just four Flooding19 songs: "Birdhouse," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," "Your Ethnic Friend," and "We Want a Rock," assisted by legendary producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Flansburgh explains, "They had produced the songs of Madness and Morrissey, and they had done & # 39; Free On, Eileen, & # 39; s a great surprise. They were the biggest music producers in England at the time. The fact that they were more interested was getting more of this record company than it was. he is a heifer. ”
There are a lot of people who want their rock music to be very dangerous and drug dealing and very secretive. And I totally understand that and I respect that, but it doesn't really reflect who we are. We're just being honest with ourselves, or trying to be who we are, and trying to do a fun job, and who we are. We don't need many more Keith Richardses. "
That relationship became a service, helping Linnell and Flansburgh transition from a “home birth” to a more dynamic arrangement. While these days, any bedroom manufacturer can create something for ProTools, "At that time, you had no access, you had no flight times," explained Flansburgh. "It was all about learning as you learned, working for you. So working with Clive and Alan is like a complete immersive phase in song processing, sonics, how instruments work well, how to make effects on vocal tasks, make things not sound like a million wishes. these guys. I feel like we got a lot more to work with than a bunch of great songs. They were really nice with us. They don't need our help, but they are very kind and cool. "
Just one example: Although Flansburgh was working on the production of a "birdhouse" demo, he initially had no musical component to it. “There was a point when the song was converted into a full-blown instrument. And for selfish reasons, I was like, & # 39; Hey, guys, this song doesn't have a guitar. & # 39; & # 39; Because I just thought if this was going to be a song we'd be watching 14 months, it would be great if I had something to do on stage without tapping on the tambourine, now? Alan Winstanley had the brains to deliver one of those great Marshall amps, as tall as you, and I've never played with one before. I'm connected, and it just sounds crazy and it's very explosive and wild. I just played the bass line, and it's very glue to the song you hear now. I was very relieved, and she was very generous in finding a way for me to participate in this thing. Now it looks like a part of me is like the rhythm section of the song, but that wasn't given at all, and I think people who were a little kind would just chase me out of the room. ”Indeed, 14 months turned 30 years into a birdhouse visit.
The “birdhouse” was also FloodingIt's a great video, which translates an unpleasant message to the band's fans that is packed with the fun atmosphere of the song itself. As the Johns play on the stage in an abandoned theater, a crowd dressed in matching costumes straddles them on bicycles. Afterwards members of the entire crowd donned the same mask and dropped the band on a machine, featuring "Stop Rock Video" signs, a message that protested with strong agreement. Replacations & # 39; non-video for "Bastards of young." Flansburgh explains, "I think the idea of coding and getting people protesting on a rock video was a fun idea, and what better to show on a rock video than a rock video itself?" He also admits that he and his partner were a little bit loath to put themselves as the front-and-center in the videos as they finally did. "For a long time, we were like, & # 39; Can we get rid of it? & # 39; But that's not an effective way to get to a band. I mean, when you make rock videos, I think it's the cheapest proposal you have on your face."
The 1960s-party-soundtrack vibe of "Twisting" was a follow-up single Flooding, but was eventually covered by the cover of the 1953 song group produced by The Four Lads which has become a signature item. “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” now popped up everywhere Small Tones in the 2016 expansion of the video game Just Dance, and it's more of a rock song than a local song that can go straight into black and white nightclub music. Flansburgh explains the origins of the unusual TMBG cover: “My mother and aunt used to play that song at the piano when I was young. At family gatherings they just sang it, so it was with this song. I never really addressed the recording of The Four Lads & # 39; s when we put together the tracks for that song; I recently played a song I knew, which is a great way to get free from the first ones. ”
The rock vibe suddenly evolves into the theme song "Your Ethnic Friend," which describes "the most lovable party I've ever been to," which is a surprise for a partygoer. They could be the Giants being political as they just found out by saying, "I can't shake the hand of the devil and say he is joking," a feeling rooted by Flansburgh & # 39; s sging guitar solo. (He admits, "Yes, that's ten seconds of music," he admits.)
Flansburgh also describes the band's tendency to increase rock parameters, which they do over and over again Flooding. "I think one of the tricky and hard things about how we get into rock culture is that people often think that our way of showing is kind of rock. I mean, we wouldn't be in the rock business if we didn't like rock music. There are a lot of people who want their music for -Rock is very dangerous and a drug dealer and very secretive. And I totally understand that and I respect that, but it doesn't really reflect the kind of people we are. We are either honest with ourselves, or trying to be, and trying to do a happy job, and who we are. ”" Particle Man "also had a second life in Tiny Toons Adventures, and it sounds like the kind of song a one-person band would create, with a bass drum on their backs.
As Flooding it improves, it becomes easier and easier to distinguish, with breath and style the music continues to come from the most unexpected sources, as the band insists that everyone just wants a rock "to wrap a piece of string around" ("We Want a Rock") and rants because "Someone Keeps Moving My Seat "(" a song that illustrates the importance of worrying about minor things while everything is going on, "Linnell said Rolling Stone 2009). Calypso synth hijinks of "Hearing Aid" hearkens back to where the couple passed, "Whistling in the Dark" featuring a conversation between two inmates talking through their different prison cells, and the jazzy "Hot Cha" getting on a horse in an old board game of Parker Brothers Derby Days. To that end, that "cinematic" decision wraps things up (after a Monkees song similar to the band's signature): "Road Movie To Berlin" comes out exhausted after a brilliant sonic journey through head-to-toe Hope movies Crosby & # 39; 40s: "We're in a movie going to Berlin / We can't get out of the way we came in / So go down this glass of globe / We'll go."
By 2020, The Might Be Giants has released 22 studio albums (including many children's music releases in 2000), several over the past few years, following the 2015 revival of their popular Dial-A service Song. But the Johns know that Flooding it stays their calling card. “The thing about Flooding, if you've never heard that They Can Be Giants before, it seems like that's where people point to where to start. Is it actually our best album ever? I don't know. It is a wonderful job that a son is satisfied with. ”And there is a slow burn: Released in 1990, left in 1993, and last platinum in 2009, which marks the longest record.
The band is about to kick off the 30th anniversary tour of the album Flooding completely, along with another set. A continuation of the ambitious project that began all those years ago. "It was very important to us when we started making recordings for our listeners over and over again," said Flansburgh. "But at the same time, finally, we knew that the spirit of doing what we were doing was different." After three decades, Flooding it still holds the moment to light up the bottle that fundamentally launched the work of They Might Be Giants & # 39; s powerful, while blocking the path for aspiring musicians who want to follow the music they follow.
