Little Giants

When it comes to They Might Be Giants, dude I was there. I think I saw their first seven shows in Kansas City, most of which were in their original (and very charming) "two guys and a backing cassette tape" configuration. I thought Lincoln was a work of sheer genius, and my first band covered "Lie Still, Little Bottle" in our first/only show. When they came to town for a Halloween show, my girlfriend and I dressed up as TMBG, wearing mock-ups of their giant fezzes, toy instruments, and other little details that I was proud to say we got exactly right. (Yikes, I really was that geeky.) We lost the costume contest that night (to Coneheads, how lame), but we did get to hang out with the band for a while, making for a great memory.

Probably like a lot of those early fans, I gradually lost track of TMBG. If I had to say why, I might come up with some impressive-sounding theory about how their music speaks directly to and validates your inner nerd/child, and eventually you don't need that validation so much anymore. (Impressive, no?) But now that I'm proudly raising two potential nerds of my own, I'm happy to catch up with the two Johns in their new role as makers of kids' music. This incarnation officially began a few years ago with their No! CD, but really they've made tons of kid-friendly songs throughout their career. ("Why Does The Sun Shine?", "Istanbul Not Constantinople" and "Particle Man" come immediately to mind). Now they're just slightly increasing their focus on that demographic.

My daughter Ruby is currently hooked on their latest project, a Disney(!)-produced DVD called Here Come The ABCs. It both teaches the alphabet and explores it in typical Giant fashion, with subjects like the friendship between Q and U, how LMNO sounds like it could be a word ("elemeno"), how D seems like a sad letter while W seems like an extrovert, and a song that makes sentences out of letters (like "i c tv, n i c u"). John Linnell's melodies are as strong as ever ("Can You Find It?"), while John Flansburgh can be as surreal as ever ("Pictures of Pandas Painting"). I'm loving the fact that my daughter can enjoy them as silly kids' songs, and I can enjoy it as just another great TMBG record. Sorry "Lincoln", but I've got a new favorite now.