dopple's Full Review: Mink Car by They Might Be Giants
A spacy, light, experimental mood permeates They Might Be Giants seventh studio album, _Mink Car_, and it is very welcome. The band hasn't sounded this loose since their 1990 breakthrough _FLOOD_. Every album since then had been getting gradually darker - which had it's advantages, especially on the eerie _John Henry_ - until they sounded downright trapped in _FACTORY SHOWROOM_. They work well with a full band, but eventually that big brass sound seemed like it was trapping our dear Johns and pulling a lot of the enthusiasm and adventure out of their studio endeavors (while having a pleasantly opposite effect on their live act).
But on Mink Car, they sound livelier and more independent than ever. While the record begins with "Bangs" - a catchy but predictable Giants tune - it quickly gets off the ground. The second track, "Cyclops Rock", is the enthusiastic and crunchy John Flahnsberg song we haven't heard on a Giants album in quite a while. It incorporates creative use of synth bells and wickedly assaultive female vocals on the second to last verse. This is a good sign of things to come.
The third song, "Man, It's So Loud In Here" totally tares away from anything we've heard from them before. It's an electronic, New Order/Pet Shop Boys techno-dance song that both satarizes the genre while beautifully reveling in it. It also contains one of the band's catchiest hooks and some fitting lyrics ("baby check this out/I've got something to say/man, it's so loud in here).
More fruitful experimentation follows. Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty and hip-hop/electronic producers The Elegent Too get in on "Mr. Xcitement", an irreverent rap with biting horn instrumentation and commanding beat. Okay, this will probably alienate some longtime fans, and it is a rare TMBG song that doesn't feature John or John singing at all - only Mike Doughty. But it works so well, I don't see how it can be dismissed. Theres no hook, it's just a song you take in and enjoy, and if you feel so inclined it's quite dancable.
Unfortunately, the energy of these cool opening songs is broken up by a two songs that, to me, are just coasting.
The first is a second version of a song that already appeared on their last record, _Severe Tire Damage_. The song is "Another First Kiss", and this is baffling because it is not only extremely inferior to the version we've all heard before, it is also bordering on awful thanks to the most generic synthetic guitar and drum beats that back the John's soft vocals. They take a decent song and make it sound like something you'd here a million crappy bands put out nowadays. Strange, in a bad way.
"I've Got a Fang" might have been cute to come up with in the studio, but could better have been left to the group's Dial-a-Song service. While the lyrics are disposable, the music itself is kind of cool but repetative. Not awful, but could have been left of the record without being missed at all at the same time.
At least they recover nicely. First, with a neat song that may sound unremarkable at first but is sure to grow on you - "Hovering Sombrero", a leftover from the _Flood_ days. Then a killer cover of the oldie "Yeh Yeh". These songs are good, but merely build-up to my favorite song on the album..."Hopeless Bleak Despair". This is another softer song but actually sounds organic and sweet, unlike the hideous "First Kiss". It's your typical catchy Linnell number, but it's one of his better modern-day creations and it will get stuck in your head. The only slightly negative thing I can say about it is that it should be the last song the album, not smack in the middle, given the atmosphere it creates.
"Drink!" is another in a solid line of TMBG songs about alchoholism. "My Man" is another catchy Linell creation. And if your a fan, you will definitely recognize the song "Older", and probably not be too pleased by it's presence. This is an old song, and it's quite simple - therefore got old to many way before it's appearence on _Mink Car_. Still, I attest that this is a top notch version that keeps it as interesting as it can be, and it's not a bad song.
On the title track, they get experimental again, this time with a soft, loungy tune with dream-like lyrics (finally, a song with the phrase "24-karrot dead"!). It has drawn comparisons to Burt Bacharach, but trust me, it's in their own unique style.
"Wicked Little Critta" pays homage to their Massachusetts roots by taking a workable hook, raspy vocals sung in a Bostonian accent, and nonsensical lyrics about hockey and using words like "p-ssa'" and "dink". This MAY become a song you skip over after a few listens, but it actually took time to grow on me, despite it's obvious nature as a novelty song. I don't know, it just works, oddly enough. Better than what comes after it (Linell's "Finished with Lies" just doesn't have much going for it).
"She Thinks She's Edith Head" has an old surf rock riff at it's core, but could have been cool if John Flahnsburg had really let loose on the vocals (which I hear he did in a previous internet-only release). Here, he sounds laid-back, and it can be pleasing to the ears but has no real muscle to it, nifty lyrics aside.
But _Mink Car_ ends on an appropriately high note - "Working Undercover for the Man", a very well-developed melody with lyrics that suggest that John Linnel and his band are merely an elaborate sting operation ("Paid to fake it/in a traveling band/I'm working undercover for the man").
As you can see, there are ups and downs. I would have expected more downs given the band is twenty years old and coming off a six year hiatus, but at it's best, _Mink Car_ manages to rock just as hard and irresistably as most of their past masterpieces. It seems the Johns made a wise move by once again bringing themselves to the forefront of their sound, not their talented backing band. They utilize a full band this time rather than get lost in one, and even break away from it for a return to synths, accordian and accoustic guitars at certain points. As a result they sound fresher and more in control than they have in many years.
No, Mink Car isn't one of their most focused efforts - it sounds like a good Giants mix tape rather than providing a unified feel throughout, like some of their past records have, but this mismashed structure kind of IS the record's identity, and it is indeed one of their better LPs, flaws and all.
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