They Might Be Giants Keep Digging Deep on Quirky ‘The World Is to Dig’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

For over forty years, Brooklyn’s They Might Be Giants have been crafting earwormy art rock that toys with genres, targeted age groups, and educational endeavors. For their 24th album, The World Is to Dig (whose title was inspired by a 1952 children’s book), TMBG continues their quirky style, with the two Johns just keeping up their idiosyncratic thing.      

Following up their successful 2021 album Book, John Flansburgh and John Linnell once again worked with producer Patrick Dillett (David Byrne, St. Vincent, Mariah Carey) for a record that sounds crisp top to bottom. The duo’s backing band also stayed the same, with Dan Miller – guitar, Danny Weinkauf – bass, Marty Beller – drums, providing the core, and the horn section of Stan Harrison – saxophone, Mark Pender – trumpet, and Dan Levine – trombone, adding extra flair on a few numbers.   

The most adventurous music arrives with the opening “Back in Los Angeles” as the New Yorkers deliver a large, jazz-laced theatrical spin behind their odd poetic ode to the town. The track features excellent drumming and lush layers of orchestral strings. Overall, TMBG aren’t in a very experimental musical mood on The World Is to Dig. While tunes like the shifting/warbling “Slow” are trippy, the band seems more comfortable with tracks like the synth-led off-kilter R&B of “Hit the Ground” and the 50’s rocking, “In the Dead Mall”, which gets its kicks by shoplifting.

A few of the more straightforward tunes turn out to be album highlights. “Wu-Tang” is an ode to the hip hop group (and overall fandom) in indie rock fashion that screams classic TMBG, silly or serious, does it matter? “Character Flaw” is a gem as well, with popping synths and “extra crazy sauce” coloring the odd bopping singalong grooves. The funky rock kicks up a notch with pumping horns on the winning “Get Down,” while “Outside Brain” is a hip swinging joy, using great harmonies and motoring drumming. 

Less successfully, “What You Get” feels a bit derivative of the duo’s past songs, while some of the more one-note efforts, like “Garbage In,” don’t work as well. Neither does the band’s cover of ” Raspberries “ “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)”, which plays detached, sapping the original’s yearning power. However, the album is full of classic-sounding TMBG tunes, such as the dreamy, easy-flowing “Sleep’s Older Sister”, the muscular revved up French outing “Je N’en Ai Pas”, the snarky “What the Cat Dragged In”, and “Let’s Fall In Lava” which uses sweet harmonies and lyrics that question the Terminator’s feelings. 

One of the most smile-inducing success stories in modern pop/rock, after forty years, Flansburgh and Linnell continue to successfully deliver their eccentric brand of alt-rock throughout The World Is to Dig.