For 20 years, They Might Be Giants has served as a funhouse mirror to popular music, borrowing from all types of genres to create their own quirky, accordion-heavy nerd rock. With two children's albums already in their library, releasing an experimental record isn't something new to the band. But "Venue Songs," their latest DVD, with a companion full-length CD, pushes the boundaries, even for them.
The premise of "Venue Songs" is as quirky and out-there as the band itself. A deranged millionaire, also the narrator, bets They Might Be Giants that they can't write a song for each venue they play at on their 2005 tour. But here's where it gets crazy, and also where the music suffers: The songs must all be written on the day of the performance. The concept is great, but the DVD seems excessive. The disc contains no live footage from the performances, just experimental animation that somewhat ties into the songs themselves. And the Johns, the front men of They Might Be Giants: They aren't even in this DVD. It's like watching "TRL" on acid, with the Deranged Millionaire as Carson.
The DVD has 11 venue-song videos. They Might Be Giants never produced traditional videos. With the success of their 1990 album, "Flood," they had two videos that broke onto MTV, both of which seemed out of place on a mainstream music network. The videos from "Venue Songs" are unlikely to be as successful as previous singles. In fact, the Deranged Millionaire says that only one of the songs will ever be played again (that's "Asbury Park," a jazzy callback). But the animation for the videos, like the band, borrows from a variety of sources. "Los Angeles," a song about a Britrock group who gets their sound stolen at the House of Blues, looks like an episode of "The Powerpuff Girls." "Dallas" borrows from "Felix the Cat" to make a twisted video that seems only appropriate. The only song from the Canadian section of their tour, "Vancouver," sounds like The Cars and has very little to do with the venue, Richard's on Richards. The song uses the venue's name as a chorus, but the subject of both song and video is a girl in a monocle.
On the 46-track companion CD, there are some real pop masterpieces. Almost 30 of them are live, and that's where the album gets great. What is missing from the DVD is that crowd reaction, the laughter and cheering from being the first people to hear a song, from hearing a song that was specifically written for that moment. The CD has the genuine feeling that is lost in the DVD. And also, the songs that weren't included on the DVD are just better. The ballads for Leeds, for Omaha and Atlanta, these songs have the feeling of the venues.
With an album like this, it's obvious there isn't going to be a single. The songs are too specific, too conceptual. Like Sufjan Stevens' state albums, some songs are great pop songs, but they are best appreciated in the context of the concept itself. That's why the live tracks feel more right than the tracks featured on the DVD. With applause, the listener is placed into the context of that live performance, the context that the album hinges itself on.
This DVD/CD could have been better executed, but knowing TMBG fans, it will do well and is worth the price for true fans. The songs are short and clever and numerous, and the animation is original and interesting. If you have never experienced They Might Be Giants, start with a different album, like "Flood" or "Severe Tire Damage"
