Music Reviews
They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants

Here Come the ABCs!

Disney Records

They Might be Giants could very well be the only band that truly has been making family-friendly music that both children and adults can enjoy. And they’ve been doing it for over twenty years. This isn’t your latest Barney or Sesame Street album. Here Come the ABCs! is full of thoroughly enjoyable rhythms, dozens of instruments, including the tuba and accordion, to engage the children and clever lyrics to keep the adults coming back for more. It’s joyfully simple, with a hint of complexity.

Take the lyrics of “Go for G!” They are lines only TMBG could come up with: “Goofballs in their golfcarts/Girlscouts chewing gum/Grandma with her gingerbread/and the drummer plays a gong.” Or “Pictures of panda’s painting penguins proudly parading,” from the indie-rock gem “Pictures of Panda’s Painting.”

It’s not just the lyrics that are clever, but also the song titles. Titles like “Who Put the Alphabet (in Alphabetical Order?),” “Fake-Believe,” Letter Not a Letter” and “E Eats Everything” are songs that I couldn’t wait to listen to again and again. And the funkiness of “D is for Drums” and learning about how “LMNO” is easily mistaken as one letter have kept my son highly interested.

I cannot get enough of Here Come the ABCs! It is 25 songs of pure pleasure. Each song has the good-time feel of a children’s show, but the lyrics and subtleties keep the parents coming back for more. TMBG are the masters of fun and this is just another masterpiece to pad their legend.

Disney Records: http://www.disneyrecords.com


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