| I Like Fun | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 19, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | April 2017 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 40:51 | |||
| Label | Idlewild | |||
| Producer | They Might Be Giants, Pat Dillett | |||
| They Might Be Giants chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100 [1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
| Paste (magazine) | 8.9/10 [3] |
I Like Fun is the twentieth studio album from New York City-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on January 19, 2018.
The band began recording on April 3, 2017, [4] at Reservoir Studios (former site of Skyline Studios), [5] using the same studio space the band used to record Flood . [6] In October 2017, the band confirmed the album was scheduled to be released January 19, 2018, along with the return of their Dial-A-Song service. [7]
The album's track listing was revealed on October 23, alongside an early download of the track "I Left My Body". [8]
Before the release of the full album, 3 songs, with 1 having a music video, were uploaded to YouTube, with their uploads to iTunes following shortly afterward. The songs were, in order of release, "I Left My Body" (October 23, 2017),"Last Wave" (December 1, 2017), and "All Time What", the one with the music video (January 3, 2018).
I Like Fun was available for pre-release streaming on January 11, 2018. [9] The album was released physically and digitally on January 19, 2018.
After the release of the full album, as part of Dial-A-Song 2018, They Might Be Giants continued to release videos for all but three of the songs. A music video for the title track 'I Like Fun' was created by Canadian artist Joren Cull. [10]
All tracks are written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell except as noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Get This Over With" | 3:07 | |
| 2. | "I Left My Body" | 2:36 | |
| 3. | "All Time What" | 2:29 | |
| 4. | "By the Time You Get This" | 2:17 | |
| 5. | "An Insult to the Fact Checkers" | 2:34 | |
| 6. | "Mrs. Bluebeard" | 2:43 | |
| 7. | "I Like Fun" | 3:00 | |
| 8. | "Push Back the Hands" | 3:00 | |
| 9. | "This Microphone" | 2:36 | |
| 10. | "The Bright Side" | 2:29 | |
| 11. | "When the Lights Come On" | 3:17 | |
| 12. | "Lake Monsters" | 2:56 | |
| 13. | "McCafferty's Bib" | 2:35 | |
| 14. | "The Greatest" | John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Christopher Albert Anderson | 1:48 |
| 15. | "Last Wave" | 3:24 | |
| Total length: | 40:51 | ||
They Might Be Giants
Backing Band
Additional musicians
Production
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [11] | 108 |
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a musical duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. The duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller, Dan Miller and Danny Weinkauf. They have been credited as vital in the creation and growth of the prolific DIY music scene in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s.
Flood is the third studio album by Brooklyn-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in January 1990. Flood was the duo's first album on the major label Elektra Records. It generated three singles: "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul ", and the domestic promotional track "Twisting". The album is generally considered to be the band's definitive release, as it is their best-selling and most recognizable album. Despite minimal stylistic and instrumental differences from previous releases, Flood is distinguished by contributions from seasoned producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. John Linnell and John Flansburgh also took advantage of new equipment and recording techniques, including unconventional, home-recorded samples, which were programmed through Casio FZ-1 synthesizers. The album was recorded in New York City at Skyline Studios, which was better equipped than studios the band had worked in previously.
John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwriting, he plays accordion, baritone and bass saxophone, clarinet, and keyboards for the group.
They Might Be Giants, sometimes called The Pink Album, is the debut studio album from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1986. The album generated two singles, "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, with the exception of "Don't Let's Start", which is replaced with the single mix for the compilation.
Lincoln is the second studio album by the band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1988. The album is named after John Linnell and John Flansburgh's boyhood home of Lincoln, Massachusetts. The album produced three singles—"Ana Ng", "They'll Need a Crane", and "Purple Toupee". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety.
Apollo 18 is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1992 through Elektra Records and was named after the cancelled Apollo 18 mission that was scheduled to have followed Apollo 17. The album was also associated with International Space Year, for which They Might Be Giants were declared the official "musical ambassadors" by NASA.
Long Tall Weekend is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in 1999. It was released exclusively online through the digital music service eMusic. The album was the band's first since their departure from the major label Elektra. Long Tall Weekend was also the first full-length album released exclusively on the Internet by an established major label band. Although the album's primary release was digital, CDs of the album were issued promotionally. Following the success of the album's release through eMusic, TMBG went on to issue a digital series of rarities collections — TMBG Unlimited — through their website.
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released in early 1990 through Elektra Records as the lead single from the album Flood, making the single the band's first release on a major label. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" is the band's highest-charting single in both the US and the UK, and is one of their best-known songs.
"(She Was A) Hotel Detective" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released as a single on May 5, 1988, two years after the release of They Might Be Giants, the album on which it originally appeared. The "Hotel Detective" title has become a somewhat recurring theme for the band.
"Particle Man" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released and published in 1990. The song is the seventh track on the band's third album, Flood. It has become one of the band's most popular songs, despite never having been released as a single. John Linnell and John Flansburgh performed the song, backed by a metronome, for their 1990 Flood promotional video. Although it was released over a decade before the band began writing children's music, "Particle Man" is sometimes cited as a particularly youth-appropriate TMBG song, and a precursor to their first children's album, No!, which was not explicitly educational. The song is partially influenced by the theme of the 1967 Spider-Man TV series.
Here Come the ABCs is the second children's album and eleventh studio album by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, aimed at young children learning the alphabet. The CD and DVD were originally released separately but have since been released as a combo. There are 25 songs in the CD and 38 in the DVD.
"I Palindrome I" is a song by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. It was the second single from Apollo 18, released in 1992 by Elektra Records.
"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1992. The track is one of three singles from Apollo 18. The song has also appeared on several compilation albums, including Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants and A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants.
"The Statue Got Me High" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. The song was released as the lead single from the band's 1992 album, Apollo 18. The song reached number 24 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The B-sides "I'm Def" and "Which Describes How You're Feeling" are both taken from the band's 1985 demo tape, which was recorded using low-quality equipment.
The Else is the twelfth studio album by rock group They Might Be Giants, released by Idlewild Records in 2007. The album was produced in part by the Dust Brothers, along with Pat Dillett and the band.
Glean is the seventeenth studio album from New York City-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on April 21, 2015. It is composed entirely of releases from the first four months of the band's 2015 Dial-A-Song project.
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. The song was released as a promotional single from the band's 2011 album, Join Us. Like all the artwork surrounding the Join Us album, the cover art and labels for the disc were designed by the Office of Paul Sahre.
Nanobots is the sixteenth studio album from Brooklyn-based alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. Uncharacteristically for the band, the album's title comes from an album track, as the second track shares a title with the album. The album was released on March 5, 2013 on Idlewild Recordings — the band's independent imprint — with Megaforce Records in the US. The album was also separately released on March 8 in Australia through Breakaway Records and on March 11 in Europe, through Lojinx. One week before its physical release, Nanobots was released digitally for streaming in its entirety through the band's SoundCloud, announced by Rolling Stone. Prior to this, "Call You Mom", "Black Ops" and "Lost My Mind" were released through the advance digital Nanobots EP in January 2013. The EP, released through Amazon.com and iTunes, was met with fairly positive responses.
My Murdered Remains is the 21st album by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on December 10, 2018 for digital download and pre-order. The physical album was released in the spring of 2019. The digital download and pre-order was released simultaneously with The Escape Team. The standard disc consists entirely of songs from the band’s 2018 Dial-a-Song project; a bonus disc is included which also features songs from the similar 2015 Dial-a-Song project which had yet to be released on an album, as well as a new song entitled "This is Only Going to Go One Way."
The Escape Team is the 22nd album by New York City-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on December 10, 2018 for digital download and pre-order. The digital download and pre-order was released simultaneously with My Murdered Remains. The physical album was released in May 2019.
