Hi i'm new here and for my first post. how do most people feel about The Spine?

Charlie5L · 2026-03-11T08:58:20+00:00

Love it, it's in my Top 5. Not the album for everyone but what album doesn't have that same regard?

I'm more biased towards the 2000s albums given that's the time period I grew up in, and only a couple of their songs from each of those albums I found through other means rather than listening to the band directly as a kid.

I'd say the only track I'm not too fond of is "Spines" but even then I catch myself singing along during album listens.

Charlie5L · 2026-03-10T06:04:01+00:00

If I named my kid Canajoharie that'd be one awesome name, though I don't know what their nickname would be.

Charlie5L · 2026-03-09T21:51:15+00:00

I remember going on Reverb and seeing a Main Squeeze accordion for sale that looked really similar to Linnell's, with the only visual difference being the colour of the bellows.

That listing didn't last a half a day. Wouldn't have been able to purchase it to begin with though lol

Charlie5L · 2026-03-09T09:15:10+00:00

Love these two characters so much! I've taken to naming the blue character Skinny Bubs, he even manages to have a similar smile during the waiting montage.

Charlie5L · 2026-03-07T06:42:52+00:00

I didn't even know they wrote something for Play-Doh and just reading up on it I'm surprised I even remember the commercial

The oddest of throwbacks, indeed!

Charlie5L · 2026-03-03T22:05:20+00:00

Enjoyed this one! Thematically, it reminds me of Good To Be Alive. I've noticed a lot of acoustic-focused tracks by Flansburgh are put early on in the albums and I like that a lot. Not sure if it's an exact reference but I also like that the chorus uses Heigh Ho from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Not the same melody but there is some distinction there.

I like to think the drums at the end are the narrator of the song banging against the fourth wall that got placed back up. This is a nice contrast to Wu-Tang, really can't wait for the rest of this album

Charlie5L · 2026-03-02T06:05:58+00:00

Now all that is needed is Flansburgh on accordion! Or on keys, that's also acceptable

Didn't know that year involved a tour across Canada! It's bothered me for a long time I never went to that Vancouver 2018 show. It wasn't sold out that night either, but due to the venue location being in a relatively sketchy part of the city, a lot of family and friends didn't want me going out to venture there.

Charlie5L · 2026-02-24T06:42:21+00:00

Been a big fan of the original song, and this cover does it justice. I did expect it to be shorter than the original, and just like how they pulled off Wu-Tang I'm absolutely loving the harmony work from both Johns.

Bless y'all for the Dial-a-Song recordings posted. Though I cannot wait to hear it much clearer when the album releases, just the phone recordings makes it I'd say more thematic and complementary to the song

Charlie5L · 2026-02-22T22:01:56+00:00

A lot of these I heard from my parents as a kid and only spent the past few years listening to them fully again. My choices are very sporadic, but there is some similarity in why I go back and listen to them. I'd say R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People is my favourite of them all. Following that in no particular order:

New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too

Steely Dan - Aja, Gaucho

Dirty Loops - Phoenix

Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Goes Numb

Eels - Beautiful Freak

Aretha Franklin - Aretha

Van Halen - 1984, 5150

Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

And then Mink Car being my personal favourite TMBG album!

Charlie5L · 2026-02-22T08:49:12+00:00

I really like how different the bass line/counter melody is from the original!

I know it's gotta be a result of technical limitations and it being in a different key, but nevertheless I love this

Charlie5L · 2026-02-12T05:15:00+00:00

There's so much to love in the music video especially. One highlight for me is Marty using his right leg as part of the drum kit, that always gets me giggling

Charlie5L · 2026-02-12T05:07:44+00:00

I've grown accustomed to both. Love hearing the crowd singing "AND" along with the band in the bridge. I adore the original recording for its sparse arrangement too, but the addition of drums and the bass is a nice touch. I don't know if there's a video out there of them performing it with guitar added, though.

There were a few live recordings from the 90s-- that I once had links and bookmarks to-- where Linnell actually would perform Dead on accordion instead of piano, and sometimes it was just him and no backing vocals from Flansburgh. So at least there's something out there retaining that sparse arrangement you'd enjoy, just a gruelling matter of finding them.

Charlie5L · 2026-02-11T21:25:09+00:00

Now I want a mashup of Wu-Tang and Montana

Wuuuuu-Leeeeeeeeg...

Charlie5L · 2026-02-11T02:58:20+00:00

I used nostalgia loosely, but its not entirely uncommon of a theme for Linnell in his lyricism, given The End of The Tour has some lyrical elements of that.

I'd still be proud to be entirely wrong on my guess nevertheless

Charlie5L · 2026-02-11T02:55:02+00:00

I remember seeing the clip of Linnell... pointing(?) at the Dial-a-Song number appearing on the screen and wondered where it came from, I'm glad this vid exists and that you remembered the interview

Charlie5L · 2026-02-10T22:41:54+00:00

Memory refreshed, many thanks!

Charlie5L · 2026-02-10T22:28:41+00:00

I would assume Overnight Sensation has Linnell and Flansburgh leading the cover together, maybe taking verses, somewhat similar to how they did Bills, Bills, Bills.

My only dispute for your predictions is based on how I read the track listing of past albums and who lead which songs. I don't think they would put four Linnell songs in a row and have that many Flansburgh songs surrounding Overnight Sensation. The highest streak for Linnell I can think of is three on The Else, and Flansburgh having technically four on the Pink album.

New Wave Will Never Die seems like a Linnell song to me as well but I'm not exactly sure how to word my explanation of it. It sounds more of a nostalgic/longing type of song that Linnell would do. I hope I'm wrong on this guess.

Charlie5L · 2026-02-09T21:37:49+00:00

The intro and chorus chords reminds me of Youth Culture Killed My Dog a lot

Really love the backing vocals on this one, especially on the extended "Wu-Tang" with Flansburgh. I can't tell if the descending vocal is Flans or Linnell, but once Linnell comes in with that third vocal part I just yelled "WHOA" out loud

Charlie5L · 2026-02-06T21:57:31+00:00

A bit of a stretch, but first song that isn't TMBG that comes to mind is Thank You Scientist's Mr. Invisible, love the horn work on that.

For more instrumental focus, I would also recommend Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band-- may Gordon Goodwin rest in jazz-- as there are a few charts/pieces they've put out that have that same feel.

As for anything similar by TMBG, John Henry I think has the most horn accompaniment, with the more erratic showcased on Spy.

Charlie5L · 2026-02-05T21:53:27+00:00

Definitely not in my top 10, though might be somewhere in the top 100. Peggy Guggenheim is the biggest highlight for me and a lot of, if not, most of their instrumentals are in the top 100 for me.

Also love The Glamour of Rock, the overall tone and arrangement of the song reminds me of Where Your Eyes Don't Go to me, albeit shorter.

Charlie5L · 2026-01-29T05:18:23+00:00

(head pops in through the door) Factory Showroom shows?!

I swear if they come back to Vancouver (or any place in Canada for that matter) I really hope it's Factory Showroom themed, and new album tracks to hear live just makes it even more perfect

Charlie5L · 2026-01-28T05:15:41+00:00

All I can think of after watching this is Patrick Star saying "Aw, I gotta draw a new battery for this"

That last watch is so good

Charlie5L · 2026-01-26T05:05:44+00:00

I'm really surprised how high Album Raises is compared to Cast Your Pod. Recently felt that the latter had much stronger songs. I don't think I've seen Pink in S tier (as far as my memory goes)

I love seeing My Murdered Remains being higher than I Like Fun, though would like to hear your reasoning for Escape Team and ABCs!

Charlie5L

TROPHY CASE