John Henry

John Henry

They Might Be Giants expands to a sextet on its fifth album, <I>John Henry</I>. Even with the addition of bass, drums, sax, and trumpet, the focus is still on the goofy vocals, silly lyrical puns, and accordion-driven hooks of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, and that is not a good thing. These 20 songs include a tune that quotes Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," love songs to a dirt bike and a copy shop clerk, and a song that takes its lyrics from Alice Cooper song titles. If that sounds like your idea of clever, enjoy. <i>--Jim DeRogatis</i>