John Henry

Performer: They Might Be Giants
Artist: Robert Quine; Tony Maimone
Engineer: Hiro Ishihara; Ed Thacker; Danny Alonso; Chris Laidlaw; Rich Lamb
Producer: They Might Be Giants; Paul Fox
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: They Might Be Giants: John Flansburgh (vocals, guitar); John Linnell (vocals, horns, keyboards). Additional personnel: Jay Sherman Godfrey, Robert Quine (guitar); Steven Bernstein, Frank London (trumpet); Kevin Osborne (trombone); Kurt Hoffman (horns); Tony Maimone, Graham Maby (bass); Brian Doherty (drums). Hudson Shad: Wilbur Pauley, Peter Becker, Hugo Munday, Mark Bleeke, William Douglas Vannice (vocals). Recorded at Bearsville Sound Studios, Bearsville, New York and Skyline Studios, New York, New York. Personnel: John Flansburgh (vocals, guitar); John Linnell (vocals, horns, keyboards); Peter Becker (bass baritone); Jay Sherman-Godfrey, Robert Quine (guitar); Mark Bleeke (tenor saxophone); Steven Bernstein , Frank London (trumpet); Kevin Osborne (trombone); Kurt Hoffman (horns); Brian Doherty (drums). Audio Mixer: Ed Thacker. Recording information: Bearsville Sound Studios; Skyline Studios NYC. Photographer: Michael Halsband. Arrangers: Wilbur Pauley; Frank London. For their fifth full album of new material, the duo of John Linnel and John Flansburgh (who are They Might Be Giants) expand their lineup into a full-fledged band. They'd been touring as such for a year or two prior to the making of this album and the first peek came with a couple of tracks on the previous year's WHY DOES THE SUN SHINE? EP. The songs still have their trademark absurdist wordplay. But where two minutes used to suffice, they now comfortably stretch out some numbers to twice that length. The crack rhythm section of drummer Brian Doherty and bassist Tony Maimone can anchor, groove and swing. Horns punch out of the arrangements, adding a luster of celebration to the proceedings. With the opening measures of "No One Knows My Plan," one would be hard-pressed to name the ensemble. But once the singing enters and the song's narrative takes shape, it could be none other than these masters of cerebral fun. Their obvious delight throughout is truly infectious.

Spin (10/94, pp.112-113) - Recommended - "...the good news is that the Johns can still churn out skewed pop niblets just fine..." Entertainment Weekly (9/16/94, p.120) - "...Recording with a full band helps--the rhythms are looser, the arrangements more muscular--but the lyrics still tend toward undergraduate smarminess..." - Rating: B Alternative Press (11/94, p.101) - "...Lurching between faux-vaudeville to clear-cut pop, loopy Latino to bona-fide `60s soul, JOHN HENRY reamins as eclectic as anything the Giants have built in the past..." Musician (11/94, p.92) - "...shows the the Linnell/Flansburgh knack for effortless lyrical slyness continues..." NME (Magazine) (9/17/94, p.50) - 7 - Very Good - "...they've always had a quite disgusting amount of pop songwriting talent, ideas, humour and daft ambition, and on JOHN HENRY it actually comes out..."

John Flansburgh and John Linnell, the two singer/songwriters behind Brooklyn avant-pop cult band They Might Be Giants, were childhood friends who have been working under the TMBG banner since the '80s. The words "nerdy," "geek-rock," and "quirky" have been applied to their melodic, humor-filled songs so often there should be a cross-reference in the dictionary. Over their numerous albums with and without backing musicians (in the early days they used a drum machine) they've offered songs about the most unlikely subjects imaginable, from Belgian painter James Ensor to famed cinematic costume designer Edith Head. Their masterful songcraft is such that they've long maintained a healthy audience for their idiosyncratic sound.

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