My purpose in life is to spread the word about They Might Be Giants, the greatest band to ever grace our ears.  They are (dare I say?) genius's.  Think about it, two guys from Mass. starting a band, just the 2 of them and a drum machine.  And playing fun music.  Playing music that combines not only the sound of overdriven guitars, but brass (trombones!), sax, synthesisers, and even (and I love this part) accordian.  They have in recent years branched out into a full band on their last 2 albums, to the dismay of some of their fans (another TMBG fan/friend of mine who introduced me to their music rather bitterly said that they had sold out, and I shall never forgive her. :))

Their earlier music is very synthesised, but if you follow their music from album to album the music seems to become more and more full, possibly as a result of more musicians and more experience programming new (and better) drum machines and synthesizers.  Their album John Henry was their first album with a full band, and as a result I believe has a richer sound then that of even the album released previous to it, Apollo 18.  However, on their latest creation, Factory Showroom, they have returned to their roots a bit.  They returned to using synths and drum machines on some tracks, yet still advancing their sound.

      One thing that I love about TMBG is their range of instruments.  Xylophones, accordians, and violins are all common, with a singing saw played in James K. Polk on their last album.  Violins are common in modern rock and alternative, brass instruments to about the same extent.  But accordians are usually left out of the mix (Although the heavy-metal band Korn does feature their lead singer Jon Davis on bagpipes, which is very cool.)

      One should also check out their sibling band, Monopuff featuring Giant John Flansburgh on lead guitar and vocals, as well as other musicians They have played with (such as Mike Viola, of The Candy Butchers.

The Planet Smashers:  Well, I don't know much about them, just that they are a kick-ass ska band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  I saw them last night (2/15/97) in concert here in Lennoxville, and they kicked.  They have some really awesome songs.  Their music is upbeat, feel good music, and they have a trombonist and sax player, so that part kicked (I swear I suck energy right out of the sound of that trombone) and they're pretty nice guys too.  I was with a couple of people from CJMQ and we met the lead singer/guitarist afterwards, Matt Collyer.  He was pretty cool (in my opinion) to be talking to us after just having played music for a couple of hours straight.  They don't appear to be having a working home page, but I have compiled my own (probably incorrect) lyrics page...

      I was told over the summer by a friend of mine that they do have a new album out, but I have yet to discover it's name or how good it is.  Stay tuned!

Plumtree:  Plumtree is a really cool all girl band from Halifax.  They've got good music, good lyrics, and plenty of energy to play a concert at a dead bar in Lennoxville at 12:30am after having been on the road for ten hours.  My story:

I was doing a fill-in radio show from 8pm-10pm on CJMQ, Radio Bishop's (The only station you can listen to that doesn't really suck!) with my friends Christine (of the rez list) and Sarah (not the one I dated.)  So, they were doing this thing where they wanted people to call in and give their opinions on whether or not guys can fake orgasms.  Of course the only people who called in were my friends Stew (not his real name) and Pezzi (His last name.)  So they talk... blah blah... I play Last American Exit by The Tragically Hip to finish off the show, at the same time asking over the air if Stew could pick us up in his car since it was raining.  At this point Eric, the next DJ, showed up with 2 girls, and I said "And the next DJ is here" and somebody, possibly me said "And he's got 2 girls with him."  The song starts, the phone rings.  It's Pezzi.  "Are they good looking?" he asks.  Well, they are, but I'm not going to say out loud "Yes, they're good looking." right there in front of them.  I'm insensitive, but not quite that insensitive.  "Well, on a scale of one to ten?"  "Grrr.... Ten." I reply and hang up the phone.  At this point Eric turns to me and says "Are you going to the Plumtree show at the Georgian tonite?" I say something lame like "Well, I was thinking about it, but it's raining, I got the CD's..."  Eric says: "This is Plumtree." and gestures to the 2 girls.  I stammered something like "Really!  Cool!"  Then the phone rings again.  It's Stew.  "I'll give you a ride home if you let me talk to the 2 girls."  So of course I said no, and then hung up on him.  Long story short (Too late!) it was Amanda and Lynette from Plumtree, and Eric was going to interview them on the radio before they went to the show.  Pretty cool.  I went to the show, which was pretty cool despite the fact that there was not a lot of people there, since most Bishop's people had already left, and there hadn't been much publicity before the show.  They're all pretty young, I think (not sure) that Lynette just graduated from HS last year.  Think, but can't prove.  I'll put up more info, as soon as I can get through to their website, which just hasn't been answering my queries recently.  Suffice to say, I bought an album at the concert, and it kicks! I can't wait for their new album (due out this summer?  Can't remember, they gave a rough estimate on the show i think, but it's hard to remeber stuff when you're in the presence of such greatness... Photos were taken from the very fine Plumtree web page as can be found from my LINKS page...

In The Vinkus:    Last but not least, the kick-ass band In the Vinkus.  These guys hailed from central NH, and were a cool band.  They played a variety of stuff, from ska to punk to jazz.  They took their name from the song of the same name that an earlier incarnation of the band (of which I was the trombonist) wrote.  Some members of the band (Joshh Dokus, guitarist/vox and Rory Kondrad, sax/vox, I believe) moved on to Cream of What? and then In The Vinkus.  Alas, I'm not in it any longer, as I graduated and am 3 hours away, but that is ok because I was replaced with the very capable (and I suspect better) trombonist Clinton Cox.  I saw them play once a couple summers ago, which was really cool.  Unfortunately, the last performance of In The Vinkus was unexpectedly cancelled by forces out of their control, and so I never got to see them again.  As far as I know, the band is dead, since various members have graduated from HS and moved on to greater things, alas..

This page last updated: 2/21/99