They Might Be Giants "Join Us"

They Might Be Giants, they might be audiophiles, they might be well-educated, they might be good-intentioned, they might be children at heart (which explains why they have a lot of family-friendly music), but they are not good musicians. I know they have great senses of humor, so they can easily disregard that, and should; I did not mean what I said."Can't Keep Johnny Down" Are you that uptight? "You probably get that alot." Acoustic strumming, metronome beat (at first few seconds), tambo, vocoder, handclaps, and fun rhythm and rhymes all fit perfectly in this "Old Pine Box." There is more memories to make  "Canajoharie"  than just being "Where a frog flipper first evolved on the day/When a daring mudskipper dragged itself away/Where a rocket ship/Experiment went awry/When the prototype/ Exploded on the launching site," but the keys, accordion, that addictive hook and rhythm are reasons to love it too. What do I think about the following track? "Mind your business/Mind your business/Mind your never shut, Quonset hut business." I am pretty fond of the horn arrangement and sax solo, drum machine, and...is that Stick Stickley? The lyrics of "Cloisonne" are fun as well. The next song's upbeat tempo and summery sound makes it a perfect one to just "Let Your Hair Hang Down." I must ask..are they planning a "Celebration" because they manage to merge a disco sound with some some funky guitar and chameleon-esque percussion. The next song is hard to reveal what is so likeable, "In Fact" it is almost impossible not to like it. I can name a few things: the bass, the pace, the vocals (i mean it, look at my face), the trumpet, percussion, lyrics and the last twenty seconds let me give you a taste( reminds me of Pink Panther). The next song's subject is serious, but the sound and lyrics beg to differ. The multi-layered instrumentals work real well with the sarcastic delivery concerning the subject in a song that asks "When Will You Die?" NO! Not you, I don't even know you, but maybe it would be nice to. I don't even know who it was written for, if it was written for a real person. "protagonist'(WriteMore). With this next fun track, about a girl some guy met only a minute twenty five seconds long. It was told that she was reckless, and the guy was flippin' wrong. Why does it matter what I say? "Judy is your Vietnam." "The Lady and The Tiger" seem to go the distance trying to escape their own lives they seem to despise in this drum-machine, faux-hop induced rhythym, trumpet incorporated track that tells a nice little story full of fun rhymes, which at times...wouldn't you like to know? Listen to it..GO! "Spoiler Alert!" I sometimes tend to reveal some of the mystery in the songs before you actually hear the songs; this creates a problem because considering what you like and what you have heard you expect something different than what I portray. I do not do that intentionally, and I don't do it all the time, but for this song I will not really do that. All I will say is that an instrument is played only once on this record and it is in this song, I really like the way the vocals are presented in this one too, oh! Did I mentions the lyrics? Silly, ok that is it. I think it would be safe to say that there is a reason why this guy is a "Dog Walker," and is not really a people person. I would just like to know why this little guy is as mad at the world as he is. Does he hate the cowbell or the cymbal heavy intro? What about the guitar or the warbling frog? Wait..is he a vampire vanquisher? He said someday he will be a dog..maybe he will become a werewolf, and they don't like each other that much,right? Where will you be in "2082?" I  probably will be dead long before then, and I'm completely fine with that. The minimalistic instrumentation, and really fun rhythm may catch the ear, but doesn't detract from the story that is told in the lyrics and the interesting possibility of its occurrence. I feel bad for the guy that was smothered though.  I don't know if you like courtship TV, Nirvana, Woody Harrelson, Bollywood, cats, anything esle mentioned in the song or the song itself, but it may be safe to say that  "You Don't Like Me" because I can read the expression on your face and it says "EW!" "DOUCHE!" and "This idiot cannot write for s---, and doesn't know what he's talking about." Best  tracks : Can't Keep Johnny Down, You Probably Get That Alot, Cloissone, In Fact, When Will You Die,Spoiler Alert, Dog Walker, and You Don't Like Me.