On their sixth studio album, They Might Be Giants adapt the full-band set-up of their previous album, John Henry, to song-writing more in line with the subject matter of earlier LPs. Self-consciously quirky to a degree that seems a bit desperate at times (the forced retro-funk of opening track “S-E-X-X-Y”, for example), the band rambles through topics of drunkenness, their own vocal qualities, metal detectors, President Polk, and pop chart jockeying, with a layer of detachment insulating them from anything that might bite back too hard in their direction.
Instrumentally, though, the band comes off much stronger. While the keyboards are held in reserve for most of the songs, their occasional movement to the fore (e.g., “Metal Detector” and “Your Own Worst Enemy”) lead to some of the most striking moments, with other touches, like a singing saw in “James K. Polk”, hinting at the diversity of sound sources TMBG used in their earlier days. Otherwise, the arrangements feel a bit restricted by the need to use guitar, bass, and drums in all the songs, inhibiting the more creative deployments that might have been possible with more selective usage of each. A few nimble turns of phrase here and there pick up the lyrical slack somewhat, but in general, the pacing and plodding meters make the words feel drained of spontaneity and enthusiasm. Not fully bad, but certainly indicative of the downward slide the rest of the band’s catalog would take.
Scrambled Brains 