Though the album sounds like a straightforward production, it was technically adventurous. The Johns spent two two-thirds of their budget to lay down “Birdhouse,” “Your Racist Friend,” “We Want a Rock” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).” TMBG recorded Flood at the ultramodern Skyline Studios in the heart of NYC in fall of 1989. The also brought in journeymen like veteran Latin-jazz trumpeter and Dizzie Gillespie sideman Charlie Sepulveda (the solo in “Your Racist Friend” - to the Johns’ lasting regret, he’s misspelled as “Spalvida” in the credits). Most were soloists drawn from the Johns’ friends in the NYC rock music scene, like DNA’s Arto Lindsay (the noisy anti-guitar solo in “Hearing Aid”). Nine guest musicians were featured on 12 of the 19 songs. The rest of songs rotate through folk (“Women and Men”), manic new wave (“Lucky Ball and Chain”), inspired noise outbursts (“Hearing Aid”), and retro-pop homages that split the difference between the duo’s contemporary heroes and the 1950s aesthetic that imprinted on them as they absorbed TV reruns in their youth (“Twisting”). The album launches with “Theme From Flood,” which plays like the soundtrack to a Technicolor movie, followed by “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” a leadoff single driven by a joyous keyboard, backward snare-kick beat and pogo-worthy bassline. After two minimalist records made with drum machines, Flood saw the duo let loose like a riptide. Both sang and played an increasing array of instruments including guitar, clarinet, Dustbuster vacuum and xylophone. Lifelong friends Flansburgh (guitar, glasses) and Linnell (accordion, keyboards) performed their first show as They Might Be Giants in early 1983. Flood is still a hallmark in geek chic’s rise, too: the Giants’ two previous LPs proved a skinny guy with an accordion and a partner in crime wearing black-plastic glasses could rock a party. and Hüsker Dü that dominated university radio stations in the 1980s) to the alternative movement that defined much of the 1990s. Issued the first week of 1990, Flood was a landmark release in the evolution from college rock (the awkward handle for music like R.E.M. To mark the anniversary, Giants founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell talked to Rolling Stone about the making of the record, then prepared exclusive new liner notes for each song. Last week, They Might Be GiantsS hit the road to celebrate the 20th birthday of their signature album Flood.
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