Don't Let's Start: A Podcast About They Might Be Giants

From May 28th to May 30th They Might Be Giants performed at Brooklyn Steel , only a short drive, or an absurdly long walk, away from Jordan and Dave. We interrupt our Factory Showroom run once again to bring you our official unofficial report. What songs were performed? And WHO performed them?!? (TMBG?) Listen and find out!

Look what the cat has dragged in! They Might Be Giants have released a new album, The World Is To Dig ! And here's what you get: our reaction! Do we dig it? Did it make us sleep or go feral? Is it an overnight sensation or flawed garbage? (Ok that's a bit harsh, I'm just trying to make wordplay from the song titles, people!) Get down with Jordan and Dave's brains, put that telescop...

Why? Because it's extra, baby! In this episode we're kicking back onto our seductive red leather couch to discuss a few songs left off of They Might Be Giants ' sixth album Factory Showroom that managed to slide right into the S-E-X-X-Y EP ! Our big earth-shaking discussion is Sensurround , a catchy, crafty and collateral-damage filled John Linnell classic! We don't know where he g...

Factory Showroom Part 5, made in Jordan's bedroom! Don't Let's Start, your simple key to happiness is back! We heard your instructions and followed your directions, so pull away your earplugs because we are finishing Factory Showroom, They Might Be Giants' sixth album, by just barely hearing the final two tracks! First, this is a warning, but we devote over an hour to the vintage l...

They Might Be Giants have released new music, so we are duty-bound to pause our Factory Showroom series and provide you with our very raw, unsullied, virgin-eared reaction! We discuss our initial thoughts on the Eyeball EP, including the very Linnellian Linnell title track by Linnell, the Snuggle fresh-scented The Glamour of Rock , the tell-nothing instrumental biography of Peggy Guggenheim , and...

We said we'd be back in just five minutes, but you could tell that we were lying! Welcome to our hypnotic and strange series on Mr. Factory Showroom , our sixth They Might Be Giants album! Which is not to say you'll like it! First, there's no way to stop the excellence of our segment on Spiraling Shape ! Everyone says it's great! Then, in 1990, They Might Be Giants released James K...

Hope you're glad to hear from us! We're ringing the bell on the door and fighting for our place in rock and roll...podcasts! I can't believe it's true, but we're marching on through They Might Be Giants ' 1997 album Factory Showroom , discussing a precious and few three more songs! First up is the best podcast segment of your life as we discuss New York City , the cherished...

If you thought we were out of style and long forgot, you were wrong! Watch us shine as we discuss the next three very songular songs on Factory Showroom , the sixth album by They Might Be Giants ! How'm I s'posed to let you know the way we feel about them? Tell me how can we do our How Can I Sing Like A Girl segment without being stigmatized by the rest of the world? Our fingers point at each othe...

This is the way the description part goes! We are X-tra excited to clear our throats and begin our viewing of They Might Be Giants' 1996 album Factory Showroom ! Unnoticed by few, beloved by many! First, we can't get away from a song that really fell between the grating, only appearing if you rewind to track 0 on the original CD, Token Back to Brooklyn ! Then you gotta understand what S-E-X-X-Y is...

Episode 69 and feeling fine! In this calm before the storm of Factory Showroom, we reach into the big old floppy grab bag and yank out five rare, special, unique, singular and startling songs not officially released by They Might Be Giants . We dare not reveal which ones, but let's just say they feature Johns Linnell and Flansburgh singing about some strange and varied topics. Don't delay...

That sexy E-Mail fairy has arrived again and left behind a huge backlog of letters from you, you, and also you! Topics addressed include our opinions on The Spine  and The Else ! What song would we leave off John Henry ? What other bands are we experts on? Plus listener insights into Dinner Bell , Fake Out in Buenos Aires , Hell Hotel , It's Not My Birthday , and Mono Puff  stuff! We also disc...

A very special guest on John Flansburgh's Mono Puff  album becomes a very special guest on the Don't Let's Start podcast! Nancy Lynn Howell , singer of Don't I Have the Right , talks to us about recording the song with Flansburgh, the special occasion where she performed it live, and we get to hear rare, exclusive recordings of her short-lived super group with Laura Cantrell  and R...

Now I wanna talk to everyone about Mono Puff b-sides and demos! Alongside the album Unsupervised (by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh) came The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) single ! It's full of odds and ends, balls and...friends?? First, Flansburgh covers a fellow b-side from fellow song genius Mr. Frank Black, the one and only Oddball ! We listen to both versions and...

We laid low, but now we're back, and you'll be happy as a scarecrow listening to our so-long episode finishing up John Flansburgh's  debut album Unsupervised  from his supergroup Mono Puff !  Who'll teach you all about the history of Dr. Kildare  (the man, the show, the song)? We will! I can read your mind, you want us to then discuss the quiet resentment of So Long, Mockingbird,  correct? I don't...

Did you miss us when we were away? Jordan "Mono" Cooper and Dave "Puff" Fox are back to go song by everlovin' song through Mono Puff's  totally rocking debut album, Unsupervised ! We've got devils, we've got spacemen, step right up, people! First there's nowhere we can go except into a context-heavy discussion of Don't Break The Heart , the Amy Rigby classic given a John Flansburgh reimagining! Bu...

I hear the phone ring, and it's John Flansburgh's solo project Mono Puff  calling! Back in the day, we were distracted by They Might Be Giants, but now we're hear to sing the praises of this strange yet cohesive collection of side-project gold! Your appreciative hosts Jordan and Dave go into the formation of Mono Puff, the inspiration behind the band name, an investigation into the band members, a...

A while back Jordan and Dave produced an obsessive, second-by-second breakdown of "Weird Al" Yankovic's They Might Be Giants style parody, Everything You Know Is Wrong , off of his 1996 album Bad Hair Day . This meticulous analysis became our most popular YouTube video, and it turns out one of those precious YouTube views was none other than Mr. Al Yankovic himself! Now Al comes on our show to rea...

Salutations! Or have you seen this episode? Jordan and Dave's pain is your karma as they exchange some fighting words and complete their archival dig through the 1980s demos of They Might Be Giants (for now.) We're here to make you happy, as half of this episode is our long awaited and belated Hell Hotel  discussion! Is the song based on a Twilight Zone episode? Is that an Outer Limits reference?...

We've got another big delicious slice of They Might Be Giants ' legendary 1985 demo tape! This episode covers tracks 10 through 20, and there's still more left to chew on! We find out newly discovered, frighteningly revelatory information on Cowtown and Chess Piece Face ! We take the many demo versions of Youth Culture Killed My Dog for a walk! Then we crank the volume way up to hear the subtle se...

We're back...in time! Jordan and Dave take out their dusty scrapbooks and look into the They Might Be Giants of years past. First we discuss their very first release, the Wiggle Diskette , a very limited vinyl distributed all over NYC in 1985. Then we continue on with the first batch of songs on TMBG's infamous 1985 demo tape ! But do you think we stop there? Oh ho ho, foolish listener, doth thee...

Should auld acquaintance be forgot....Presenting a special urgent and heartfelt final broadcast for 2023! Jordan and Dave destroy the past and focus on the latest They Might Be Giants news, discoveries, rumors and revelations! We also tell you about our podcast operation, with a big announcement about a planned Patreon membership for 2024! OH IT'S GOOD NEWS! Join us on Patreon!: patreon.com/dontle...

As a prologue for our upcoming deep dive into They Might Be Giants ' 1980s demos, we spoke with the legendary Michael Small , the People Magazine writer who first reviewed TMBG's demo tape in 1985 and gave them their first huge exposure, telling (or warning) the world about the madness to come! Michael tells us about the first time he heard the tape, the songs that got stuck in his head, appearing...

In this episode, Jordan and Dave read e-mails from who? E-mails from you! Topics include They Might Be Giants love songs ! Fingertips theories! Reactions to our John Henry episodes, including theories on End of the Tour and Destination Moon ! Condoms! Metallica ! The Rheostatics! Frank Black ! David Lynch! Comic books! Horror movies! The future of the podcast! Dave's new album! Jordan's old...! Th...

Save your tears! We are back with a very special surprise guest, Peter Stewart , the man, the mystery, the legend behind the previously anonymous, though no less epic song They Might Be Giants ! Unofficially titled I Might Be Giant, Too by TMBG fans, this intense rock ballad was heard on They Might Be Giants' Dial-A-Song service and over the speakers at their live shows around the world since 1989...

Jordan and Dave are back to destroy the music you love! We spend this interminable episode listening to and mentally processing the vast number of rare dial-a-songs and officially released full band demos They Might Be Giants created in the build-up to 1994's album John Henry ! Highlights include the extremely different Sleeping in the Flowers dial-a-song, the very brief and very funky full band r...