Holidayland [EP]

Performer: They Might Be Giants
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: They Might Be Giants: John Linnell, John Flansburgh. Additional personnel includes: Dan Miller (guitar); Kurt Hoffman (keyboards); Dan Weinkauf, Tony Maimone (bass); J.D. Feinberg, Dan Hickey (drums). Producers include: They Might Be Giants, Bill Krauss, Pat Dillett. Personnel: Dan Miller (guitar); Kurt Hoffman (keyboards); Dan Hickey (drums). Arranger: They Might Be Giants. Hot on the heels of their Mink Car album and their success with the Malcolm in the Middle theme comes They Might Be Giants' Holidayland EP, which collects the holiday-themed songs that John Linell and John Flansburgh have recorded over the years. Longtime TMBG fans will recognize "Santa's Beard" from Lincoln or Then: The Earlier Years, and the song's quirky-yet-rockin' sound captures the appeal of the group's late-'80s/early-'90s work perfectly. The sweetly spare toy piano and drum machine-based "Feast of Lights" originally appeared on the Chanukah compilation Festival of Light, Vol. 2, while "Careless Santa" comes from Unsupervised, the debut album from Flansburgh's side project Mono Puff. The group's version of "O Tannenbaum" -- sung in German, natch -- also achieves the blend of braininess and warm fuzzies of TMBG's best work. Unfortunately, the EP's newest track, a cover of the Sonics' "Santa Claus," is also the most unremarkable, but overall Holidayland will please the They Might Be Giants fans who don't already own these fun, festive songs. ~ Heather Phares

Entertainment Weekly (11/30/01, p.90) - "...The highlight here is the previously released 'Santa's Beard,' a key entry in the slim subgenre of songs about Santa as a sexual interloper..." - Rating: B

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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