• Dan Miller sings all out in lucky track seventeen in "Infinity".
• Danny Weinkauf wrote "Number Two" (and I strongly suspect that it's him singing).
• Marty Beller puts the BeeGee in TMBG—see "High Five!".
• Dan Levine and Mark Pender horn it up in "High Five" and "Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go to Work)".
• Mr. Levine's niece, Hannah (11) is quite the songstress. She is a highlight on this album, sometimes even outshining T-M-B-G in "Zeroes", "High Five!", "One Dozen Monkeys", "I Can Add", and "Ooh La! Ooh La!". She's a pro.
• Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser, Flansy's supa-cool wife not only grabs you soothingly by the throat in "The Secret Life of Six" and "Ten Mississippi", but creates the John-John puppet duo and the Deeply Felt Puppet Theatre. This woman is amazing. No joke.
• Henry "Best Name Ever" Linnell in a duet of sorts with Papa Linnell in "Seven". Collectively now—AWWWW.

    This album retains every little thing you love about the Giants, so don't give up. These guys may say They're old and losing Their hair, but the Johns are backed by people that will always keep Them young, attention-getting, but always blemish-free.

    I hereby give this album three point four asterisks.

    { * * * .4}

    

     Track 01 : "Here Come the 123s!" { * * * }

        "They Might Be Giantsss...Here come the 123sss..."

        A little different, a little more sentimental than the poppy, whirly-bird
"Here Come the ABCs" theme. Plus - Linnell? Solo? Whadda-Wah?

    Track 02 : "Zeroes" { * * * * }

        "Zeroes. (zeroes) Zeroes mean so much."

        This song certainly invokes something, I just can't name it. Zeroes,
by all means should mean nothing—but they do, buttheydon't, but oh how
they do. (And Flansy will elegantly tie this to your brain all day.)

    Track 03 : "One Everything" { * * * }

        "And if you go out and count up everything - it'll add up to one."

        Linnell's warm voice will really thrum your heart strings. This song
is perfect for kids who question everything. In fact, every Linnell song it
seems will call up something in your child to think about their surrounding
omniverse.

    Track 04 : "Number Two" { * * * * }

        "All over the world, you know that it's true, I'm always around, y'know I'm
the Number Two."

        This song was written by Danny Weinkauf and I remain convinced
that it is Mr. Red Pants himself singing (through the side of his mouth—
kyoot!). It's just gotta be. This has that classic, jazzy piano style that reminds
you of a universal something, but you'll never figure it out.

    Track 05 : "Triops Has Three Eyes" { * * * * }

        "Two eyes on a face are usually enough..."

        Very bouncy-smooth—kids will dance and so will you. You should
even sway a little. This song has so many layers; you gotta really listen. There's
this "AiAiAiAiiAiiiAiiii" track in the back that is cool. This song has finally
made me ask, something that has been ricocheting off the top of my head
for two years: Where exactly does TMBG look for Their ideas? Why triops?
Hell, I had never even heard of a triops. Now a nation of three year olds do.
What will the future be like?

    Track 06 : "Apartment Four" { * * * * * }

        "If you ever get bored, come knock on my door, the one with the four."

        This...this song...is on my tip-top ten [thousand] TMBG playlist.
Honestly, I've been waiting for a track like this to come out ever since I started
listening to Them religiously two years ago. I love pretty much every thing 
They do, trust me, but rarely does one outshine the rest such as this one.
If you get this album for any sole reason, it better be this song. 
    (Incidentally, I wrote a stage-play-soon-to-be-turned-radio-play based on this
song and a few other TMBG drum-oriented songs - i.e. "Rhythm Section
Want Ad" and "Doctor Worm".)

    Track 07 : "High Five!" { * * * }

        "Keep it cool! Old school!"

        Marty really kicked it on the previous kid's album in "The Alphabet Lost
and Found" (another tippy-top falsetto fave), and you shouldn't expect much
different here. Did anyone else figure that his voice can go so high?

    Track 08 : "The Secret Life of Six" { * * }

        "Six knows how to stand on his head."

        Remember in the good ole days of Sesame Street how those foam numbers 
on sticks (with a little help from some old school stop-motion) would climb
the stairs of a sunny ghetto in Brooklyn or emerge from a lake? Yeah, this'll
evoke images. A very different style for our Flans—do I sense...some Raffi-esque?
Say it isn't so! (It isn't so. It's waaay better than Raffi, 'kay.)

    Track 09 : "Seven" { * * * }

        "We want cake! Where's our cake?"

        I'm sensing a story here. One could have hours of fun just
brainstorming on how this song began. (Did ickle Henry have a seventh
birthday party?) This Dust Brothers track is highly memorable by its distinct
beyond distinct beat. It will leave you limerent.

    Track 10 : "Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go to Work)" { * * * * * }

        "Work is the last thing on my mind."

        This cover of a drinking ditty has been featured in the TMBG podcast,
the previous kid album, and this one. The Giants love this song and you do
too. That full trumpet sound? Brought to you lovingly by Mark "Loveman"
Pender. And singing along is inescapable.

    Track 11 : "Figure Eight" { * * * * }

        "Turn left, go straight, turn right, straight again."

        So, the lyrics are pretty straight forward but it's the HARMONY you gotta 
watch out for. This is a totally rockin' piece of work and quite possibly possesses
the only lyrical use of Zamboni—ever.
 
    Track 12 : "Pirate Girls Nine" { * * * * }

        "Legend grew about their daring, never did they walk the plank."

        Flansy utilizes his amazing vocal range and design. Not to mention some
awesome accordion playing on Linnell's part. This tells an imaginative scene of
pirate girls—appealing because everyone wishes they were one. But this definitely
a fun one to sing along to. Do it.

    Track 13 : "Nine Bowls of Soup" { * * * }

        "I didn't think you even really liked soup."

        I get the feeling Linnell wrote this around "ichthyosaur." However random,
it's an amazing musical journey delving into interplanetary relations,
telecommunications, and manners.

    Track 14 : "Ten Mississippi" { * * }

        "Counting the seconds while singing the Mississippis..."

        A great song to practice your accordion scales to. Oh, and Robin Goldwasser's
voice never fails to amaze. Holy crap.

    Track 15 : "One Dozen Monkeys" { * * * * * }

        "It was a barrel that came from the jungle."

        This is the album's battery, by god. Hannah Levine is one classy little girl.
And Flansy's backup just kills me. There's so much attitude in this one, it's hard
to stop yourself from jazzin' right along with 'em. (We'll never look at a monkey
the same way again.)

    Track 16 : "Eight Hundred and Thirteen Mile Car Trip" { * * * * * }

        "Four hundred and seventeen miles to go."

        A blip (fifty-seven seconds) of rockin' reality. Are we peaking into the
touring life of They Might Be Giants? Whichever, this song would make for an
explosive concert!

    Track 17 : "Infinity" { * * * * }

        "How can I reach infinity?"

        Yay! The awesome guitar-licking and word-pealing skillz of Mr. Dan Miller!
This song embraces a common struggle. Dig that empathy.

    Track 18 : "I Can Add" { * * * }

        "I don't even know Spanish, but I'm gonna sing it in Spanish now!"

        This is another favorite of mine (be patient, I'm a fan-girl). Flansburgh 
proves once again this he can hits notes and voices never-ever imagined before.
The man kills me.

    Track 19 : "Nonagon" { * * * * * }

        Okay, okay! HERE'S the real kicker! I cannot (NOT) stop listening to this
song, because it's pure harmonic-lyrical genius. This song should come with a
freaking warning siren. With so many songs stuck in your head,
how will you function?


    Track 20 : "Even Numbers" { * * * }

        "Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, red, green."

        This song could be categorized as Classic Linnell, featuring such ventures
as a sequencing, driver's education, and a disquieting confusion between genders.

    Track 21 : "Ooh La! Ooh La!" { * * * * }

        "Hike up your pants and do the coco pop."

        Oooooh yeah! Flansy and Robin rapping about skipping rope. It's the
answer to my most troubling dreams. The lyrics will drive you crazy with the
need to analyze.

    Track 22 : "The Heart of the Band" { * * * * }

        "We all like to play in the band—uh huh."

        Every instrument gets name-checked here—except for the keyboards,
which play a fairly large role in this song. Poor Linnell. I first heard this song
when John Flansburgh and John Linnell made a guest appearance on
Playhouse Disney's Higglytown Heroes (which, incidentally, they wrote the effing
theme for—hell yeah). It was awesome. And apparently Danny Weinkauf is black.
And Dan Miller, erm, a girl. Y'know, They have to suit every demographic and
everything.

    Track 23 : "Hot Dog!" { * * }

        "We're taking off, we're dancing now."

        I really, really want to say that this song is annoying. You have no idea
how much I yearn to storm that out. But the truth is, I watch Playhouse
Disney just for this moment in my life. (Not to mention Higglytown Heroes.)
And chances are you'll be dancing like...that too.

    Track 24 : "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme" { * * }

        "Come inside, it's fun inside."

        Oh hell YES, you will sing along to this! The only annoying part is that
Mickey actually finds the gall to say something in his own theme song—as do
his friends. Repulsive. But Flansburgh makes it okay.

    Track 25 : "One Two Three Four" { * * }

        "One two three four."

        Truly prolific in the elements of sound. The beginning reminds me of
Mike Nesmith's birthday party scene in Head where Davey, Micky, and Peter are
 dressed in monastic robes before jumping out of 'em and tripping on E. And
somehow this makes sense in accordance to the song...

    Track 26 : "John Lee Supertaster (Live)" { * * * }

        "Every flavor explodes, expodes and explodes."

        Perhaps mildly inappropriate for a children's album, but start 'em
young, I say! This track is absolutely r-ock-ing and would be nothing but noise
to the untrained ear.

    Track 27 : "Bed, Bed, Bed (Live)" { * }

        Sorry, John. This is interesting, at best. NOT my favorite version of the song
and certainly not a clincher for an album precedingly awesome as this, but I can get
the gist. Gets the kids to settle down after their routine moshing.

    (Disclaimer: I review as a fan and as such, suck supremely at it. Take all views with a grain of acid and you might feel better.)