Join Us

Join Us is the fifteenth studio album from the rock band They Might Be Giants, released on July 19, 2011. It is the band's first adult album in four years since The Else in 2007. Following the success of their 2009 children's album, Here Comes Science, the band returned to their adult audience with Join Us, an eclectic collection of 18 songs.[2][3]

For the documentary film about cults in America, see Ondi Timoner.
Join Us
Studio album by
They Might Be Giants
ReleasedJuly 19, 2011
RecordedMarch 2009 – 2011
GenreIndie pop[1]
Length47:07
LabelIdlewild
ProducerThey Might Be Giants, Pat Dillett
They Might Be Giants chronology
Here Comes Science
(2009)		 Join Us
(2011)		 Album Raises New and Troubling Questions
(2011)

In an interview with The A.V. Club, Flansburgh commented, "We probably recorded 30 songs for this album, and the songs that are on album are basically the last 15 or so. There were so many strange misfires at the beginning, just the most mutant songs."[4] Some of the songs that were left off Join Us were later completed and released on the rarities compilation Album Raises New And Troubling Questions.

Background

Recording began in March 2009, according to a July 2009 interview with Billboard, wherein John Flansburgh also mentioned that eight songs had already been recorded. An incomplete track listing composed of fourteen songs was revealed on Pitchfork.com on April 5, 2011. The track list was updated to include four more songs ("Canajoharie," "Celebration," "Dog Walker," and "Spoiler Alert") on the band's Facebook page on April 26.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(70/100)[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[6]
The A.V. ClubB[7]
Consequence of Sound[8]
Los Angeles Times[2]
No Ripcord[9]
Paste(8/10)[10]
The Phoenix[11]
PopMatters[3]
Rolling Stone[12]
Spin(8/10)[13]

Join Us has garnered fairly positive reviews from critics. It debuted at No. 32 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and No. 8 on both the Billboard Rock Albums and Billboard Alternative Albums charts.[14] Join Us also debuted at No. 8 on both the Billboard Rock and Billboard Alternative charts. It disappeared from the charts the following week. Join Us appeared at No. 20 on the CMJ Radio 200 on July 25, 2011. It climbed to No. 11 on August 2 and continued its ascension, reaching No. 5 on August 23. It spent 20 weeks on that chart.

Two de facto singles emerged: "Can't Keep Johnny Down", which was released as a free MP3 on Pitchfork's website on April 5, as well as a promotional CD, and "You Probably Get That A Lot", which was promotionally issued in the UK. Music videos were produced for both songs, the former starring Rip Torn, although both tracks failed to chart. Music videos featuring the band were also produced for "Spoiler Alert" and "Cloisonné". The music video for "When Will You Die", which featured the construction of a life-size monster hearse by the Office of Paul Sahre, went viral and achieved over 100,000 views total—more than 25,000 in just one month. The artwork for Join Us was also very well-received, and Sahre was nominated for a 2012 Design of the Year Award from the Design Museum.

Track listing

All tracks are written by They Might Be Giants

No.TitleLength
1."Can't Keep Johnny Down"2:23
2."You Probably Get That a Lot"2:57
3."Old Pine Box"1:53
4."Canajoharie"3:39
5."Cloisonné"2:40
6."Let Your Hair Hang Down"2:31
7."Celebration"3:48
8."In Fact"2:20
9."When Will You Die"2:32
10."Protagonist"2:49
11."Judy Is Your Viet Nam"1:26
12."Never Knew Love"2:54
13."The Lady and the Tiger"2:53
14."Spoiler Alert"2:39
15."Dog Walker"2:32
16."2082"1:55
17."Three Might Be Duende"2:25
18."You Don't Like Me"2:57

Personnel
They Might Be Giants[15]
Additional musicians[15]
  • Stan Harrison – horn arrangement on track 5; saxophones on tracks 5, 9 and 17; bass flute on track 14
  • Curt Ramm – trumpet on tracks 8, 9, 10, 13 and 17
  • Dan Levine – trombone on tracks 9, 13 and 17
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion on tracks 13 and 15
  • David Driver – lead vocal on track 17
  • Michael Cerveris – lead vocal on track 17
Production[15]
  • Pat Dillett – producer, engineer
  • Jon Altschuler – engineer
  • Greg Thompson – engineer
  • UE Nastasi – mastering
  • Paul Sahre – cover art

Chart performance
Charts Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 20032
U.S. Billboard Rock Albums8
U.S. Billboard Digital Albums9
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums8
U.S. Billboard Tastemaker Albums14

References
  1. Gale, Nick (August 9, 2011). "They Might Be Giants – Join Us Album Review". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  2. Diehl, Matt (18 July 2011). "Album Review: They Might Be Giants' 'Join Us'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  3. Houle, Zachary (18 July 2011). "They Might Be Giants: Join Us". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  4. "They Might be Giants' John Flansburgh". The A.V. Club.
  5. "Critic Reviews for Join Us". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  6. Heaney, Gregory. "Join Us – They Might Be Giants". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  7. Wild, Matt (19 July 2011). "They Might Be Giants: Join Us". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  8. Trunick, Austin (15 July 2011). "Album Review: They Might Be Giants – Join Us". Consequence of Sound.
  9. Davison, Mark (21 July 2011). "They Might Be Giants: Join Us – Music Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  10. Gonick, Jeff (18 July 2011). "They Might Be Giants: Join Us :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  11. Lundy, Zeth (3 August 2011). "They Might Be Giants: Join Us". The Phoenix. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
  12. Nagy, Evie (19 July 2011). "Join Us". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  13. Walters, Barry (19 July 2011). "They Might Be Giants, 'Join Us' (Idlewild/Rounder)". Spin.
  14. "Join Us – They Might Be Giants". Retrieved 2011-07-31.
  15. Join Us liner notes.
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