Spinner

Video Premiere: They Might Be Giants, 'The Shadow Government'

Brooklyn's They Might Be Giants have never shied from unique visuals and concepts. Hell, they invented dial-a-song and took inspiration from Williamsburg when it was still dangerous. In that vein, the uncompromising John and John duo teamed with ColourMovie for their animated new video, 'The Shadow Government,' off their latest album, 'The Else.'

"'The Shadow Government' is about waking up from a nightmare only to find yourself in the same bad dream" guitarist John Flansburgh tells Spinner. The politically-charged imagery and evil moon illustrate Flansburgh's explanation of the song. "It's really a mad scramble of all a bunch of different events in these frightening, manic times in which we live," he explains.



Next Video

All the AOL Music info you want to know

Drake Sued: Ex-Girlfriend Seeks…

The Boombox

Barry Brecheisen, Getty Images Drake has already admitted to making his…

Catwoman Pepper Sprays Ozzy Osbourne in…

Noisecreep

Total Assault Things on Hollywood Boulevard get pretty weird on a routine…

Cake, 'Mustache Man (Wasted)' -- Video…

Spinner

Artist: Cake Video: 'Mustache Man (Wasted)' Highlight: "We knew from the outset…

See all AOL Music »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

17 Comments

Filter by:
Matthew Ahn

It's been a long road back from the Elektra recording deal and the likes of Factory Showroom and Long Tall Weekend.

I think they're getting back to what they were in the early '90s, but they're not quite all back yet. I still find this album to be quality music.

November 17 2007 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sesoim

Re Post 14

I think they "jumped the shark" in 1994. I like the John Henry album, but they changed their style for it, and when they tried to go back to their old style in 1996 the magic had gone.

They've still had some great, ingenious moments since then, but the albums just aren't as enjoyably unusual now. They've repeated themeselves too many times.

September 19 2007 at 2:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Fergus_Thedog

Sorry, John and John. This honestly hurts to say, but compared to your early brilliance, you have lost 'it'. The clip here is kind of cool, sure, but the song bites - older albums like Flood, Lincoln and Apollo 18 were an eclectic landscape of humour and inspiration, but this song is typical of the dross of your 3 latest 'adult' albums. Occasional glimpses of TMBG of old on them, but generally pretty bland, formulated generic repetition. The only question left for me is "at which point did TMBG officially 'jump the shark'?"

September 16 2007 at 9:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric James

They Might be Giants are a cornerstone in my identity, but I really don't like this song and the video is too literal and uninspired. All flash with no substance. And the song sounds like Mr. Flansburgh went with the first thing that came to his head at every turn.

Done with devotion, to be true, but devotion to a bad idea is as mislaid as the things the song objects to.

September 16 2007 at 2:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ian Danton

While I understand Andrew's view for me there is a lot to be said for giving imaginitive rein to animation rather than film. I loved the pop up streets and the newsprint imagery. Not so keen on the moon's eyes shooting lightning, but maybe I am just envious. It would be some party trick.

As for seeing the John's again I guess I am going to have to travel to the states!

September 15 2007 at 7:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andrew Shell

Does anyone else feel this video is completely contrived? I mean they say "Looked in the sky" and the guy in the video looks in the sky "The moon was following me" and what's this? Yes, the moon is following the guy in the video. Come on guys!!! Where is the odd random videos that had little to do with the subject of the video? Where is William Allen White? Where is John and John? Has anyone else noticed that there haven't been any videos with John or John in them for a while now? Last one I remember was Doctor Worm. You know, there is this thing called film. I don't have anything against the occasional animated video but every single one?

September 15 2007 at 3:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lisa Ruffman-Weiss

What a great video! Cool animation. Very creative. This is their best album since Apollo 18. (And I still love all the others!)

TMBG rocks!

September 14 2007 at 9:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jaxon

Awesome video from an awesome band.

September 14 2007 at 9:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Worlebird

Huh, there's nothing there.
No video, nothing.
I even turned off my firewall and still nothing...

September 14 2007 at 8:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rory

Very cool

September 12 2007 at 7:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply