Four decades since their self-titled debut, Brooklyn alternative rockers John Flansburgh and John Linnell return with their 24th LP, packed with of punchy, pacy, wistful, whimsical, clever wordplay and indie rock-pop, buoyantly satirical and also a little world weary at times, they remain oddball, lively commentators on the ongoing absurdity of life. Always adding surprises, opener Back in Los Angeles has an luxuriant string arrangement, Wu-Tang is a tribute to the great hip hop collective, but in a very different style with a rather catchy, REM-style indie pop melody (“At the end of my tether, thought I was a goner. But in walked the answer in the persons of Wu-Tang”); Sleep's Older Sister is a gentle, nimble number which chronicles a love affair with dreams, which the speaker laments are too expensive now; Je N'en Ai Pas is one of their more personal tracks, sung entirely French and meaning I don’t have any of it. Let's Fall in Lava is a lovely, mischievous slower ballad about how dangerous it can feel to fall in love and includes the line “What would Terminator 2 feel if he could feel?”; Outside Brain is a jaunty indie rock number reminiscent of their 90s pomp expressing intelligent fragility; “From a mineshaft to a crawlspace / Across a bed of nails and broken glass / From a jump scare to a catwalk / On a tightrope over burning ash / Against the grain: outside brain”; and Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) is a cover of a number by the American pop rock band the Raspberries. Almost all of the snappy 18 tracks are under 2 and a half minutes, and there’s no shortage of clever jokes and social commentary throughout. Final number, the playful They Might Be Feral with a catchy chorus: “We can’t go back we don’t belong / Invasive thoughts and species strong / They might be feral, they might be wild / Yes it’s a sign, yes it’s a sign, yes it’s a sign.” Clever, nerdy but always fun, it also seems appropriate to refresh appreciation of TMBG in parallel to them being the writers of the theme tune for Malcolm In the Middle, that brilliant ensemble family comedy, which currently returns to screens after 20 years to mark an anniversary - Life Is Still Unfair. Out on Idlewild Recordings.
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