The Else, TMBG's first "proper" album since 2004's The Spine, is in many ways the successor to John Henry, the band's last album with Elektra, released in 1994. John Henry saw the band move in a much more "rock" direction, and most of the cuts on that album featured not only a full "real" band (hence the name John Henry), but a horn section as well. While The Spine had a few songs that fit this mold, The Else completely embraces this tactic for almost all of it's cuts, with heavy guitar and drums, multi-tracked vocals, and, in some cases, a full symphonic orchestration.
Song-by-song breakdown:
I'm Impressed - This is a Flansburg vehicle that's catchy enough, but on the whole pretty unremarkable. It's upbeat and a good title track, but beyond that, there's nothing special about it.
Take Out the Trash - It sounds deceptively simple in the beginning and lyrically is a bit cliché, but redeems itself somewhat in the chorus. The verses kind of remind me of a hard rock version of Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.
Upside Down Frown - Another solid Linnell number. This one has the a cool kind of shuffle dance beat behind it. The lyrics are vintage TMBG--only the beat is different.
Climbing The Walls- Stylistically, this is in the same vein as many of Linnell's songs on John Henry. Not much to write home about. Musically the song is boring and lyrically it's just a bunch of phrases similar to the title. Bleh.
Careful What You Pack- I thought this after I heard The Spine, and this record definitely confirms it--Flansburgh has caught and passed Linell in terms of lyrical. Flansburgh's style has also matured some too--he can craft a pop song just as well as anybody. Careful What you pack starts out with some ambient electronic noise that sounds like it was ripped straight of a Mum album. When the song finally hits its groove, Flans comes in with "The known, the unknown, and the underknown..." At this point I started to lose hope in the song--it sounds like just an excuse for some wordplay, but the lyrics improve drastically and by the time you get to the chorus this is the catchiest and most sublime sounding pop tune as any Fountains of Wayne song you've ever heard.
The Cap'm - This is why we love John Linnell. Again, the words are nothing to nothing special, but it's that Paul Revere and the Raiders "Glad All Over" beat that gets in your head and won't get out. Think Dr. Worm, part II.
With the Dark - I'm kind of undecided about this track. It might grow on me a little its ok enough, pleasant, but nothing really great. It almost sounds like three or four songs that they couldn't finish smashed together. The music is really reminiscent of John Henry. The best bit is when Flans sings about "bustin' my pirate hump, rockin' my pegleg stump."
The Shadow Government- This is the one Flansburg song that I feel is timeless TMBG. It could have been on any of their albums and fit fine. Again, Flans is at his best lyrically, and the will have you singing along after the first listen.
Bee of the Bird of the Moth - I hate this song. If you have The Spine, this is in the same vein as Wearing a Raincoat. Just a bunch of repetitive garbage.
Withered Hope - One of the deepest Linnell songs on the album--the lyrics are reminiscent of his younger days back when he was churning stuff like this out like it was going out of style. The combination of horns and dj scratching is really impressive. Lots of good musical stuff going on here.
Contrecoup - Linnell really starts to pick up speed towards the end here. This is the Linnell song that I feel could fit on any TMBG album. Classic stuff.
Feign Amnesia - Filler. Sounds like a Mono Puff song.
The Mesopotamians - I'm so glad this album didn't end with Feign Amnesia. The Mesopotamians is great musically and lyrically. It actually sounds like something that came from the Apollo 18, which is high praise from me, given that that's my favorite TMBG album.
And that's it! As far as recent TMBG albums go, I'd rate The Else far above Mink Car but just a notch below The Spine.
I rate The Else 8/10
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