I'm Tired of TMBG

tmbg
Just the other day, I got an email from the They Might Be Giant guys because I am a lucky subscriber to their mailing list.
Man did I love TMBG. They wrote such pretty, engaging pop songs back in their "heyday." They were witty, and always a little bizarre ... you never knew what to expect from them ... the one certainty that TMBG fans did have was that the band was not likely to write a love song. And that was pretty much it.
Ironically, just the other day, I was wondering why exactly it is that young bands are the bands that most often get the highest praise. Like, Beethoven and Bach and all those "old guys," for example, hit their creative peaks when they were old men that, by today's standards, should have been in nursing homes. I have never heard someone say "oh -- I like Handel, but he totally sold out after his first sonata, dude ... his later material is just not as good!" ... and why does this happen!?
Well -- TMBG is a good example of why this is the case with modern music!
It is the immaturity, the youthfulness, the willingness to try and "make a band" that makes the younger musicians out there the more highly anticipated and more "creative." Old guys mellow out ... they become more mature, and are unable to tap into the anger that made their punk so awesome, the moodiness that made their shoegaze so melancholy, and the depression that made their grunge so awe-inspiring.
TMBG has done the same with age ... they can no longer tap into their youthful optimism ... their nonsense songwriting. The things that made them so cool have just become a part of them now ... not something that was stumbled upon ... not something that was spontaneous. Spontaneity is what people like ... the unexpected is always the most exciting. Sure -- Gang of Four kick ass, but I look forward more to the next DFA remix than the next Neil Young record.
Okay -- so now some media.
TMBG, in their effort to appeal to tech-savvy listeners, has created a podcast, which can be heard here. It ain't all that great, so be warned ... the music is new and not too interesting, but I guess if you've got time to kill, you should give it a try!