Review: Here Come the ABCs - They Might Be Giants

As a follow-up to their popular and critically-acclaimed children's CD No!, Here Come the ABCs is a bit of a let-down only in comparison to such a strong disc. Part of this is probably due to the deliberate narrowing of subject matter of the new disc. How many different ways can you sing songs about the alphabet, a subject whose signature song was written by Mozart? But the relatively abstract nature of the lyrics allow TMBG to run amuck across the musical spectrum: jaunty ("E Eats Everything"), prog-rockish ("Pictures of Pandas Painting"), sometimes within the same song (the ballad/British Invasion/"Leader-of-the-Pack"-ish "D & W").

Since this CD was created with a companion DVD in mind, some of the songs ("Can You Find It?," "Letter/Not A Letter," "Letter Shapes") seem deficient without any accompanying visuals (I'll address whether or not that's actually the case in an upcoming review of the DVD). And unlike No!, which used a few songs from TMBG's "adult" career, the songs on ABCs are definitely more targeted at kids (thereby increasing the likelihood of odd stares from co-workers should you take the CD to work).

But that's not to say there aren't some standout tracks. "Alphabet Lost and Found" is a electronica-lite song about well, lost and found letters. "I C U" has some great wordplay (or, rather, letter-play). "C Is For Conifers" is a fine entry in the long TMBG tradition of educational songs and covers ("Mammal," "Meet John Ensor," "The Sun Is A Mass (Of Incandescent Gas)"). And "Q U" is just cute (or "qute," I guess).

Can I envision sneaking this off to work like I did with No!? Probably not -- it's not as strong an album in total. But if you (or your children) liked No!, there's no reason to believe you (or they) won't find Here Come the ABCs enjoyable as well.

Review: No! - They Might Be Giants

The band They Might Be Giants are elder statesmen of what has sometimes been called "geek rock." The band has been recording albums for close to 20 years, and for most of that time they aimed their records right at your typical rock-listening audience of high schoolers and those with high school in their rear view mirror. But if you see them live, you'll find something unusual for rock concerts -- little kids on their parents' shoulders.

In 2002 the band released No!, their first album specifically for kids. Some of the songs could just as easily have been released on an album for adults (indeed, some have been concert staples of theirs for years). Some of the songs are very simple, if somewhat skewed. "I Am Not Your Broom" and "I Am a Grocery Bag" are about, well, what their titles say. Other songs, however, are significantly more complex, both in instrumentation (full band!) as well as song structure. "The House At the Top of the Tree" has a Memento-like storytelling structure. (Oddly enough, that song is one of my 3-year-old daughter's favorites, and thanks to constant repetition, she's probably better at the lyrical intricacies than I am.) "Bed Bed Bed" is a 6-year-old's version of the Beatles' "Day in the Life" off of Sgt. Pepper's, complete with the sound of a placid ping pong game buried deep in the mix at the end.

I would recommend TMBG CDs to kids of all ages (they're the one rock band I don't have any problem playing for our daughter), but this CD is probably best for kids age 3 - 8. There are a number of wonderful songs on the CD -- the first three ("Fibber Island," "Four of Two," "Robot Parade") are particularly strong. The CD is interactive, with lots of games (sort of) you can play while listening to the songs. You can also go to http://www.giantkid.net for more TMBG kiddie-related goodness.