CD Review: TMBG's "Here Come the ABCs"
Categories: That's entertainment
Last week I reviewed a kid's CD that, chances are, you'd never heard of. This week, a band that you're probably already familiar with -- and if you're not, you should be: They Might Be Giants.
TMBG has been making music for longer than I've been alive. Their enjoyably oddball, pseudo-pop blend of wit, rock, and geekiness has kept the careers of John Flansburgh and John Linnell thriving for decades. Adults, albeit unknowingly, are probably familiar with the group via the TV show Malcolm in the Middle (the duo wrote the theme song), or through the Mike Myers film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, for which John and John contributed the tune, "Dr. Evil."
And, although the group has significantly less hipster cred than some of the Emo-rockers-turned-indie-snobs-turned-kid's-artists out there, TMBG's kids music is catchy enough for me, and engaging enough that my 2 1/2 year-old's attention doesn't drift mid-song, forcing her to smack, at random, all the buttons on my stereo.
The groups most successful children's album is Here Come the ABCs. From start to finish, it's playful without being pointless, educational without being painful, and fun. Really fun. My personal favorite -- and a track that's representative of the band's willingness to be weird -- is "L M N O." This lo-fi, nerd-tastic hip-hop number, explains, with faux rap bravado, that L, M, N and O are not one letter, as you might've assumed from a traditional rendition of the Alphabet Song, but rather four unique letters. Also worth noting is "Can You Find It?" -- a wistful, frat-rock tune about hidden "h"s and "r"s -- that, with different lyrics, could easily underscore a moody, post-break-up montage on the OC (or whatever).
It's not like every song is amazing. TMBG can misfire, and when they do, it's usually because they're relying too much on their musicality, which, without the fun lyrics, can feel empty, or bland. Take "Rolling O," for instance -- a mostly instrumental track that sounds annoyingly like menu music for an old Nintendo game.
That being said, both the band and the album are highly recommended. Here Comes the ABCs is well worth sharing with your children. Overall rating 9/10.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
punky 1-15-2007 @ 10:31AM
I highly recommend the Here Come the ABCs video. It's very low-tech, nerdy animation on some songs and puppets with some other songs. It's one of the few videos I could watch again and again with my toddler without wanting to kill myself. "Rolling O" is actually one of her favorite songs because she likes watching the "O" roll around on the video. My gripe is with the vowel song.
Btw, thanks for reviewing some different kids music. I can't even bear to listen to most of the kids stuff I come across.
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Rob Austin 1-15-2007 @ 11:01AM
If you haven't seen the video, some of the songs might not make sense. "Can you Find It" and "Rolling O" make perfect sense on the video version of the album, but wihout the visuals, are hard to understand.
Hence - I recommend you get the video - it's pure joy to have something that doesn't have any corporately licensed characters - and it's darn educational too!
--*Rob
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Uly 1-15-2007 @ 11:03AM
"This lo-fi, nerd-tastic hip-hop number, explains, with faux rap bravado, that L, M, N and O are not one letter, as you might've assumed from a traditional rendition of the Alphabet Song, but rather four unique letters. "
Which is why I no longer sing that song that way.
ABCD
EFG
HIJK
LMN
OPQ
RST
UVW
XYZ
Now I know my ABC
Tell me what you think of me.
Avoids the whole problem, and scans better. Doesn't rhyme as well, but whatever.
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Jenn 1-15-2007 @ 1:21PM
good call! We just received this for Christmas, and I now wander the house singing "e eats everything. yeah, e eats everything." repeatedly.
waaay too catchy. :P and much better than her CDs of traditional kiddy rhymes.
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whit 1-15-2007 @ 1:25PM
they have two kids albums, and the other one is equally good (can't recall the name and I am feeling too lazy to google it)
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mamaloo, the doula 1-15-2007 @ 2:27PM
We love this at our house and got the DVD right away and loved it even more.
My son knows exactly what a conifer is and we have many discussions about their charactaristics.
My fave is "I C U".
The other other two kids releases are "No" and Bed Bed Bed, which is a book/CD combo.
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laura 1-15-2007 @ 3:35PM
Hey, I didn't even realize that there was a video! Hmm ...
We have TMBG's "No!" in our toddler's music collection as well - it's pretty fun!
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