ALBUM REVIEW: THE WORLD IS TO DIG BY THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Release date 14 April 2026
They Might Be Giants treat the entire history of popular music as a chemistry set where genres and musical flavours can be mixed, matched, and bonds are joined. John Linnell and John Flansburgh fire atoms of ideas off one another like “the particle men” they are to create an 18-song collection that provides an optimistic spin on the world. They ask the listener to boogie along to a harmonious soundscape and “dig it”. And I do “dig it”!
The New York, Brooklyn based legends They Might Be Giants (TMBG) first full-length album since 2021’s Grammy-nominated ‘Book’ blends sharp songwriting, clever imagery, juxtaposition of views, themes of paranoia and disembodied energy into a bold musical experiment. It is important to know that joy and affection are at the album’s core and in the refreshingly original collection of songs.
The album opens with ‘Back In Los Angeles’ that has a real 1960’s jazz lounge sound from the Kilmore Hotel as the “snakes descend” and you “swap your brain out”. The second song ‘Wu-Tang’ is a love letter to fandom and expresses the power of Wu-Tang Clan’s music as a transformative force “as a seed in my heart”, all wrapped in TMBG’s trademark melodicism and 1960s pop hooks. Then, ‘Sleep’s Older Sister’ is an acoustic guitar strummer as the imagery of death is explored as the protagonists in the song cross the river Styx in a jolly tune without “emotion”. This death song has no right to sound so beautiful, just “don’t act surprised”.
The excellent ‘Je N’en Ai Pas’ (I Don’t Have Any) follows with its rock swing. It’s a real highlight of musical fun and the melody is just outstanding. Then, ‘Outside Brain’ is about a mind in “the panic of a blown-out fuse, I can’t take much more bad news, sitting in this busted chair headstrong and unprepared” set to indie-rock. ‘Let’s Fall In Lava’ is a love song with suicide of its star crossed lovers at its heart and is for all the volcano nuts out there who know the difference between lava and magma. ‘Telescope’ is a short minute percussion piece that talks about our limited world view and how we don’t see things as everything is “fake” and only “thought is real”. The next song ‘Garbage In’ is an album highlight of depression in the face of the modern world in a great bouncy melody with added “ah ahs” and handclaps as blankets are pulled over heads. It’s a song for our times!
The album hits its sweet spot with the songs ‘Get Down’ with its big jazz musical hit about the 24 news cycle that gets you really down, the absolutely wonderful ‘New Wave Will Never Die’ as older listeners will contemplate the underground rock of the 1980s and 1990s and wonder what happened to the poetry and bands, and then the brilliant ‘Overnight Sensation’ with the big 1970’s bassline riff as a band chases the “hit record” on the radio with piano keys twinkling and a big guitar riff solo as the band contemplates how “success has been ignoring me for so long”. It is bookended by the jaunty, funny, and insightful ‘Character Flaw’ with extra “hot sauce”, lit gasoline, and a poor reputation.
Like two pinballs pinging off of each other, TMBG’s then ‘Hit The Ground’ with a song about heart break with “my pencils are lined up like a firing squad” as they shoot hope. Then, the over thinking ‘What You Get’ about “meaningless dreaming” and it is a fever dream about mystery. ‘Slow’ takes the pace down and is a rock ballad with “magic potions” like something from an LSD trip from Haight Ashbury and it brings in thoughts of Buffalo Springfield’s music and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to an off-kilter beat and melody. The song ‘In The Dead Mall’ is a big rocker with a fun time melody with a “99 cent jive” all based at the shopping centre. It’s somewhat disconcerting as the ‘kindness cup’ is crushed as you chase “the price check at aisle 5”.
The song ‘What The Cat Dragged In’ is funny with added “snacks from an unknown source”. The “criminal past” of civic leaders has been lost and “who cares”. It’s a powerful parable of modern times, as we watch “Fiddler On The Roof” and worry about the socio-political climate. The song is another album highlight. The last song is ‘They Might Be Feral’ with “10,000 copies of modern bride” heading to the Pacific whirlpool as the “super villains” make future plans in compromise as “troglodytes” stand there with “bags of money” and it’s a “sign” of total environmental and civic collapse. It closes TMBG’s latest masterpiece of invasive thoughts all wrapped in wonderful melodic instrumentation.
TMBG’s state that ‘The World Is To Dig’is full of “bangers” and you have no reason to doubt them. It is indeed an album full of bangers, packed with esoteric references, mischievous lyrics, and left- field musical detours from contemporary pop culture. It’s a classic!
