REVIEWSThey Might be Giants, ‘Join Us’

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• SPIN Rating:8 of 10

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Release Date: July 19, 2011
Label: Idlewild/Rounder

If you only heard it inthe shower and couldn't make out the puckishlyrical twists or compositional tics, this clever Brooklyn duo's 15thstudio disc might bemistaken for a Radio Disney pop pageant.Having made severalhit kids' albums, Johns Flansburgh and Linnell reapply their sprightly tempos, cheery tunes, and tightly wound structures to songs about cephalophores (a martyred saintcarrying his/her own head), humanoid lizards, and other antisocial types, with cheery/eerie results. Their wit keeps maturing, but TMBG's gentle weirdness is forever young.