John Linnell - State Songs
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Free Music Notes for State Songs
Free Music Review: Brilliant concept, stunning execution
Hit: 5 Stars
Linnell creates a purely abstract framework to test his songwriting skills against and hangs one after another perfect pop songs upon it. This is a concept album with a deliberately absurd concept (unless I'm simply missing it). However, there are few songs not to love here. There's the bizarre Arkansas which touches the patriotism and pride gland for a non-existent object. There's South Carolina which actually seems to reflect an actual severe bike wreck that Linnell was involved in. Everything there is to like about TMBG is here in spades, on the surface a good listen. However, the album seems much more impressive upon reflection when you realize that the world is large enough to produce someone to attempt something so bizarre, take it seriously, and succeed.Free Music Review: I'm not gonna say they're great, I ain't gonna say they ain't.
Hit: 4 Stars
This was They Might Be Giants' John Linnell's first(and so far only) solo album. The songs are all named after one of the US states (other than "The Songs of the 50 States"). The songs, which include a few instrumentals, are not really "about" the states. They are more like They Might Be Giants songs than anything else, not surprisingly. In fact, this pretty much sounds like a They Might Be Giants album minus John Flansburgh, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fans of TMBG should enjoy it. One peculiar thing I should mention is that the album ends with over seven minutes of a recording of a parade passing by the window of the recording studio.Free Music Review: Absurd brilliance
Hit: 4 Stars
Not unlike They Might Be Giants' work generally, John Linnell's State Songs are catchy, silly, often absurd, clever and witty. Not surprisingly, the songs have only marginal connections to their subjects. The best song on the album, "South Carolina," for instance, is about a person who gets injured in a bike accident and sues (someone) for money damages. As an attorney, I found this one most humorous -- spot on -- as the bike accident victim has a neighbor take photos of his injuries, describes the police clearing the accident scene, and tells of winning "punitive" damages in court. "Maine" has a funny chorus:
Maine
Is the world that went south
Maine
Is a punch in the mouth
Maine at the top of the chart
Has crushed my evil heart
Maine
Is the devil you know
Maine
Is the heaven below
Maine
At the top of the chart
Has crushed my evil heart
And so goes most of the rest of the songs.
If you're a fan of TMBG, State Songs is a must for your collection.
Free Music Review: Stodgy State Songs Get A Makeover
Hit: 4 Stars
This is a fun compilation of wacky and mostly meaningless songs--but isn't that what one expects from one of the members of They Might Be Giants? My six-year old loves it. It probably helps that our state is chosen as one of the "sixteen fifty state songs" as he puts it. If you like TMBG, this will fit in nicely with what you want to hear. I have to admit, these songs are a little weird. I imagine the composer up late at night working them out and there's a sort of pathos that emerges, but I enjoy them (the songs, that is), so I must be a little weird, too. If you consider yourself in this category, then this album(what do you call a compilation of songs these days?) is for you.Free Music Review: What? You expected something normal?
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, don't look here for it! This solo effort from John Linnell is chock full of the sort of weirdness that makes us love TMBG, but the weirdness is, like, triple-distilled in this case. Many reviewers have seemed surprised or even a bit cross that the songs aren't really about the states for which they're titled. These folks could really stand to exercise a little imagination, relax, and just enjoy these songs for their irrepressible cheery goofiness, their clever lyrics, and for the hidden deeper meanings that may or may not really exist.
For me, the most addictive song on this frighteningly addictive album is "South Carolina," which tells the story of a guy who strikes it rich by way of a nasty bike accident and a successful lawsuit. You'll never again eat escargo without thinking, "Lift that fork! Eat that snail! Garcon, summon up a new cocktail!"
Also very good is "Montana," in which a dying patient receives the epiphany that brings him ultimate peace and enlightenment: "Montana is a leg." The rock-anthem style of this one always makes me want to break out a lighter and wave it high overhead.
"Arkansas," done in a more traditional anthem style (the kind you might be forced to stand up and sing in grade school), describes the tragic events surrounding the launch of the ship shaped like the state - the state sinks, and the song closes with the question, "will the ship return to anchor there/and replace the sunken state?"
Those who only like music with words may gripe about the three instrumentals - Illinois, Pennsylvania (which does actually have the one-word lyric "Pennsylvania" and maybe shouldn't be grouped here), and Mississippi - but they shouldn't, because these are well-crafted songs, especially "Illinois," a cheerful ditty executed with a calliope-like band organ.
In short, everyone who is a fan of They Might Be Giants should buy a copy of this album and annoy the heck out of those who aren't.