Milestones of teenage rock nostalgia, They Might Be Giants’ early albums were beautifully random and absurd rock records which spoke directly to the freaks and geeks of the late 80s and early 90s. Dadaist lyrics, a Dial-a-Song service, bizarre subject matter and a bit of art rock sophistication all made They Might Be Giants alt music of choice for a nerd culture in the midst of the angry grunge era.
This weirdly wonderful and unapologetically happy music was complemented by their even stranger music videos. “Don’t Let’s Start” and “Ana Ng” were hit videos on MTV in 1987-89. Devoid of self-serious pretension, They Might Be Giants embraced oddity and silliness while simultaneously sneaking in moments of sombre artistic genius. Lyrics like, “No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful” were woven effortlessly into otherwise nonsensical context.
Fortunately, They Might Be Giants did not die at 27 of a drug overdose. They did not find god and start a religious crusade. Nor did they end up with their own reality show as no-longer-relevant 40-somethings with too much money for their own good.
Instead, they’ve pressed on through the decades, releasing 96 albums and singles, appealing to younger and younger audiences each year.
And John and John have not forgotten the children who grew up with them (many of whom now have children of their own.) They have begun to re-issue the earliest albums of their catalog on vinyl for these life-long fans, some of which have not previously been available in the format.
Asbestos Records, an independent record label based in Stratford, Connecticut has recently pressed Factory Showroom, John Henry, and Apollo 18 after the band issued a Facebook poll asking their fans which albums they wanted on wax. Surely more titles are to come, like the classic self-titled “pink album” and their best-selling Flood.
My copies of the new Asbestos pressings have just arrived at my door, pictured below beside my German original press of Flood and the Bar None first pressing of the pink album.
Special thanks to the Johns for all the great musical memories!
The Innerspace Connection 