Putting the ROCK in 'Geek Rock'…

They Might Be Giants with OKGo
The Roxy • Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, March 28, 2001

They Might Be Giants have always been synonymous with quirky, eclectic rock & roll. From their origins as a couple of guys named John who played accordion & guitar to a canned rhythm track, all the way through to their current live incarnation as a 5-piece (2 guys named John + 3 guys named Dan), TMBG's music has always promised generally upbeat rhythms which contrast nicely with their imagery dependent, sometimes obscure & frequently disturbing lyrics. Going to a TMBG concert, you would expect to see two of the smartest, strangest songwriters active today soaking up the adulation of their admittedly geeky fans. And to some extent, you'd be right.

Except you'd be missing the fact that these guys can really @#$%ing rock!

In the studio, They Might Be Giants are consummate craftsmen, layering in various instruments to fill out their sound. Put them on-stage & it all boils down to rock & roll. All of their songs took on an amazing, edgy quality that I hadn't expected. Yes, we still had the upbeat rhythms, the idiosyncratic lyrics, the accordion—all the trappings of extraordinary geek rock. But add to that a much more frantic pace & overdriven guitar and you'd be hard pressed to find any geeks on-stage. That is, until you looked at them.

Now, that's not to say that TMBG's stage show lacked at all—quite the contrary, in fact. The lighting was good & effective. But John Linnell (the accordion playing John; the little one with the longish hair) has won a prize in my book for being the strangest looking man in rock & roll. This guy can't weigh more than 120 lbs. Even when he's playing the accordion, he slouches. He sings with his head cocked at an angle, rolls his eyes expressively and seriously reminds me of Tom Waits, if he decided to sing AND reprise his Renfield role at the same time. He insisted that people in Atlanta must be as sick of hearing their city referred to as "Hotlanta" as New Yorkers are of hearing that city referred to as "The Big Apple." So he decided to call Atlanta "The Big Apple."

And John Flansburgh (the guitar playing John; the big one with glasses) simply couldn't stand still. He played his guitar behind his back, he rolled around on the floor, he kicked, he leapt like Eddie Van Halen before the much needed hip replacement. He was also responsible for most of the between song patter, proving himself to be a witty & engaging MC. Did I say MC? Scratch that…he proved himself to be a witty & engaging frontman/rockstar. However, there's something incongruous about a tall, heavyset guy with short hair & specs getting the role of rockstar/guitargod dead on perfect. I found myself laughing a lot: not at Linnell, who looked like he was into it; not at Flansburgh, who looked like he was having a good time, or even at the incongruity I've already mentioned. I was laughing because I was having FUN, a quality which often seems to be lacking at rock concerts.

So, besides edgy & fun, how was the music? In a word: awesome. The Three Dans (on guitar, bass & drums) are an amazing bunch of musicians, interpreting the entire gamut of TMBG songs with a skill & respect that belies the fact that they are, essentially, backing musicians. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they'd been an integral part of the band from the beginning. On TMBG's older stuff like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," "Particle Man," "They Might Be Giants," "Angel," "Ana Ng," "Meet James Ensor" & "Birdhouse In Your Soul," they provided musical interpretations that differed enough to keep the music fresh & the audience aware that they were seeing a live show, not just listening to the album at home, but didn't differ so much that longtime fans would feel alienated. On more recent stuff like "She's Actual Size," "Dr. Worm," "I've Got a Fang," "Robot Parade" and "Cyclops Rock," the band was tight without being oppressively so. These are, after all, the songs written since TMBG began touring as a full band, instead of just two guys & a drum machine. All of these songs went off without a hitch, blending the practiced chops of a bunch of musicians who've been playing together for quite some time with the spontaneity of people who still really enjoy what they're doing.

Finally, the crowd. TMBG fans defy any easy, stereotypical description. I saw punks at this show. I saw the hairlines & cellulite that signify rapidly encroaching middle age. I saw tragically hip kids, young professionals out for a night &, no kidding, people there with their teenagers. EVERYbody had a good time, nobody got killed or stomped on & the ringing in my ears that usually plagues me when I leave a concert was gone by the time I crashed for the night. All in all, a good night & a great concert that I can highly recommend to those who like their rock smart & their shows polished, but not without surprises.

OKGo: What a magic combination…

Speaking of surprises, the big surprise of the evening was OKGo, TMBG's opening act. How to describe these guys? Well, I suppose if you took The Kinks & bred them with The Who, took the offspring & raised them on Queen, then taught them how to approximate every genre of music from doo-wop to metal, rap to punk, Dixieland to folk, & got them to cut an album with Beck sitting in & Prince producing, you'd have a pretty accurate idea of what OKGo sounds like. But it still doesn't approximate what these guys are like live.

Hailing from post-Smashing Pumpkins Chicago, OKGo (pronounced just like it looks: "Okay Go") are the most exciting new band I've encountered in a long, long time. Their influences are unabashedly eclectic, their chops are excellent, their energy is high & their sense of humor is ironic & earnest by turns. Honestly, I viewed the thought of the opening act for They Might Be Giants with a bit of trepidation—who could possibly serve to warm up a TMBG crowd? OKGo were perfect: just as smart & talented, but coming from a different musical space entirely. Highlights of their performance included their cover of "Crimson & Clover," "Heavy Metal High-School" (their improv instrumental while Damian, the lead singer/guitarist changed a string), the incredibly long-titled song about "the train & the symphony," "We Dug a Hole," "It's Tough To Have a Crush When the Boy Doesn't Feel the Same Way as You" and their cover of "Kiss Me, Son of God" by, who else, They Might Be Giants. If you go to see OKGo, & I strongly urge you to, encourage the guys to do their rap act for you: I promise you, you'll like it. Also, pick up their CD single, on sale at the T-shirt stand. It's only $3, & worth twice that, easy.

Hodge podge o' stuff…

• Ray Larabie adds to his ever-growing list of freebie fonts for you with Pakenham!

• Strength Industrie did an awesome little Flash site for OKGo (who opened up for They Might Be Giants on Wednesday, as you'd know if you'd read my review), but their site isn't even up yet. Must be nice to get work just like that!

• In the continuing saga of The House of Prayer, we find out that, while Georgia's pretty redneck, Alabama's even more so!

• Largo over at MegaTokyo turned me on to this site. Honestly, I know next to nothing about current games, but there's some exquisite work going on here!

• And, while it ain't all about me, here's a bit more personal news. I'm not adverse to updating on the weekends, but this weekend I'm headed to Aiken, South Carolina, to play a little Last Blade 2 & pick up my new 12" Mandarin Spawn! So unless something weird happens, don't expect anything new until Monday. Have a good weekend! And let me know how the first week's gone, 'kay? Ta^2!

What's another word for euphemism?

• Not sure what you should say? Check out this handy euphemism generator!

• Daniel over at waferbaby has posted a new, really neat pixhell: Zeldman vs. Tycho.

• *sigh* Atlanta is a great city which, to its credit, is rapidly outgrowing the typical, Southern stereotypes. However, to its detriment, it's still the @#$%ing buckle of the Bible Belt.

• In personal news, I'm going to see They Might Be Giants at the Roxy this evening. The last time I went down into Buckhead to see a show, I didn't get in until 5 a.m. So, in all likelihood, I'll be sleeping tomorrow & won't update, but expect a concert review on Friday. And if you're going to see TMBG tonight, say "Hi" to me! I'll be the geeky guy with glasses. :-)

Random connections…

• Go make your own cartoons at toon-o-matic!

• J666 of mulletsgalore talks about…well, a bunch of stuff.

• Probably an old one, but I just found it: punks watch TVLand, too!

• In the "No Kidding" category: Americans are sleep deprived. Great, something else that'll keep me awake worrying.

Check for gills…

Before I even get my morning coffee, I discover a new episode (#8) of Shawks has been released! My Monday morning is definitely looking up!

A basic mission statement…

Glassrope is primarily an attempt to connect with other internet users through the media of art, thought & design. Through film reviews, poetry, visual art, critical essays, short fiction, creative writing, opinions, interesting website design & sharing links, bookmarks & favorites, I hope to find people of similar talents & interests and bring them together. Part online literary magazine, part blog, part news & reviews, Glassrope will constantly evolve to reflect what's happening on the web & what's happening to its contributors.

Right now, the list of contributors is limited to me, but by encouraging submissions from all & sundry, I hope to change that. Send me your submissions, please! Poetry, photography, website design, thoughts, stories, anything at all is welcome—you will retain sole copyrights to anything I post. I can't promise that I'll put it up, but if I decide not to I will at least tell you why.

Some other facts: I'm not a professional website designer, so Glassrope will become better as I learn more about designing for the web. Eventually, I'd like to make it much more interactive. Also, Glassrope is non-commercial—it does not exist to make money, but because it seems like a fun thing to do. That's it! Get in touch with me if you have any suggestions, questions, comments or submissions!

Thanks!

Whatever makes you happy…

Go. Get thee to a video store. Rent Happiness, by Todd Solondz. The same guy who brought you Welcome to the Dollhouse made this movie in 1998, but we've just found it on video. It's brilliant, beautiful, disturbing, weird & about as true as any movie can be without being a documentary or a dumb "derived from a true rumor" movie. Keep your eyes peeled for a full blown review in the features section shortly! Unrated & not for the faint of heart, so it probably won't be at Blockbuster. Go get it...really!