–The Reviewer

To comment on Flansburgh & Linnell songwriting, I think I heard Linnell described as something like a ‘Melody Machine’. When I hear quite a few songs by Flansburgh I’m sometimes initially deflated because he seems to go for such a straightforward rock take. Actually, Flans has written many great songs, some of which have wonderful melodies and sounds (Don’t I have the Right? off Mono Puff’s Unsupervised, for example – I assume he wrote it, or Reprehensible). But the Shadow Government strikes me as the former and doesn’t do much for me. Maybe it’s Linnell’s amazing ability to write such songs that sometimes make Flans songs seem too ‘straightforward’.

But I think in the end they play off each other’s styles well. Perhaps Flans prevents Linnell from going way to esoteric (although Contrecoup is getting there!) and Linnell shaping some of Flans’ songs a bit more towards the melodic genius?

In any case, the wife & I really enjoy the Else, especially compared to the Spine and while some are standing out for me: Withered Hope, Climbing the Walls, Careful What You Pack, Upside down Frown, the whole album is pretty solid and very enjoyable to listen to straight through instead of having to pull out a few singles and skipping others like XTC vs Adam Ant or Mr Xcitement (wife can’t stand it!).

The fact that the album is short is probably incentive to buy the CD version in July. I always find it funny when an album is 13 songs and feels “short.” Before CD’s were around, the longest single albums were 46 minutes long. At 38 minutes, it’s half of a single CD, but it’s almost all of what used to be an “album” (a 33 rpm vinyl record, for you youngins).

Oh, MAN do I ever disagree with this statement! There are TWO songs on this album that are the clear winners in my book — The Cap’m and especially The Mesopotamians. The Mesopotamians is the single best TMBG song I’ve heard since ‘Man, It’s So Loud in Here’. (Vancouver off of ‘Venue Songs’ comes pretty close)

Of course this reviewer and I were in disagreement from the start. He also says that he wasn’t impressed with Mink Car or The Spine. I loved both AND Mink Car replaced Factory Showroom as my absolute favorite TMBG album.

I was also surprised not to see Why Did You Grow A Beard.

The thing that’s really unusual for me about this album is that it’s the first time since “Factory Showroom” that I’ve gotten a TMBG release without having heard any of the songs beforehand. Granted, “Mink Car” was problematic in that regard, since there were much better versions of the songs that came out before the record was made, but I thought with “The Spine” they got it right, giving us enough of a taste to make the whole album really enjoyable. This time around, we got a taste of “Why Did You Grow a Beard” etc… and the album went off in a whole other direction.

I think once I get used to the Dust Bros. feel and dig deeper into the lyrics, I’ll start to like “The Else” better. Till then, I’m just trying not to be bummed out by the whole messy thing.

Also has anyone mentioned that the cover art for this album is way sweet?

Interestingly, most of the die hard fans seem a bit chill to this album, so far as most reviews I’ve read. I agree with your statement that this album is a bit like “Factory Showroom” inasmuch as it’s a relatively cohesive whole without the jaggedy gear-switching of, say, “John Henry.” It’s not that I think one is any better than the other, but I think the smoother overall flow of their recent albums (from “Mink Car” on) is actually a huge highpoint in their artistic output. I’ve been an enormous fan since ’90, and every album after “Flood” has required a certain period of acclimation where I’m never quite sure if I like it or not because they keep evolving their songwriting, musicianship and production — each album always sounds like THEM, but they don’t usually sound similar to each other. Now as I mature (slightly), I understand that the evolution in TMBG’s music is subtle, not at any whim of fads and trends — I doubt there will be an “all country” album from them, for instance — their innovations are always folded skillfully into their existing mix.

And while I’m on the topic of cohesiveness, I’m sorry that no particular track jumps out at you. I’m a dj and have already earmarked three songs for my show tomorrow. (“The Shadow Government,” “Take Out The Trash,” and “With The Dark”.) Perhaps this one will be the dark horse that grows on you!

N.B. I would not qualify “Shadow Government” as a ballad in terms of speed, structure or content. “Countrecoup” would be the closest to one on the disc.