I have a sense of humor. Ergo, I like a few bands who also have a sense of humor. Unfortunately, these bands have had the ''honor" of having a hit (or well-known) song that was funny or had humorous elements. The bands I’m thinking of are Cake, They Might Be Giants, and Barenaked Ladies.
I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned these bands to someone and had the person talk about how funny the band is and how they think “Particle Man” is just hilarious and oh did I see the Tiny Toons video of it and oh they’re just the funniest. It’s clear these people equate the band with, say, Weird Al Yankovick. Which bugs me because each of these bands is very talanted with a lot of quality stuff, some of which is done with a sense of humor.
What other bands have you encountered this with? Is there such thing as a bad hit single, if said single means people think you should be opening for stand-up comedians rather than expeciting to be taken seriously as musicians?
I remember when Lincoln came out, TMBG weren’t thought of as particularly silly. They just had an accordion, which was low-grade weirdness for an alt rock band.
Nothing says that a band can’t be both humorous and talented. TMBG and BNL certainly are both (though less so than they used to be.) Nothing wrong with joke bands - INCLUDING “Weird Al” Yankovic, whom I love. If you listen to his progression through his career, you’ll find serious musical growth. He doesn’t just do parodies, though all of his songs are funny.
I’m not saying they’re not humorous - they are. What I’m talking about is the people who completely write them off as just ‘joke bands’.
When I was on a lamented filesharing service, you’d see any mp3 that was vaguely humorous attributed to They Might Be Giants (or Weird Al). Stuff that neither would ever have done. But because it was ‘funny’ it MUST be them, right?
I just get a lot of people who are like, “Yes, yes, TMBG, yes, ha ha, they make me laugh every time. But what REAL bands do you like?”
I really like They Might Be Giants. The song they do about Constantinople and Istanbul is one of my favorites. They’re goofy but quite talented. That combination really appeals to me. Really, it’s okay to be musically talented and funny at the same time. Is this really a thing that people have trouble grasping? Weird, seriously.
Incidentally, they did a version of “Maryland, My Maryland” (our state song) for some reason. Actually, it sounded like what I stumbled on was from a live concert and the group thought the song was funny for some reason!? I saw the file online last spring and downloaded it from Napster before Napster disappeared.
Oh, the poor Dead Milkmen. . . Oh, wait, they WERE a joke band, but so damn funny and talented.
Up on the hilltop where the vultures perch,
that’s where I’M gonna build MY church.
Gonna be no Christians, gonna be no boss,
Just Charles Nelson Riley nailed to a cross.
(You know, Stuart, I LIKE you. . .)
TMBG. We once tried to come up with a theological reading of Particle Man as an illustration of the major religions of the world. I can’t remember whether it made any sense.
On the other hand, I can think of several joke bands that people seem to think are real groups of musicians. Creed, Live, Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Limp Bizkit… such hilarious stuff!
C’mon…putting Live in that list is rather uncharitable. They have some exceptionally good music, and Throwing Copper, while overplayed, is a tremendous album.
You hit on a major difference between a joke band and a band with a sense of humor: talent.
Dead Milkmen were funny as hell, but (even though I suspect they were more talented than they let on), they purposely made their music sound like it was done by 4th graders.
TMBG have a keen wit and a great sense of humor, but their talent really shines on every song, no matter how silly.
A lot of the music I listen to (mostly lookout records type bands…** The Mr. T Experience**, The Groovie Ghoulies, The Donnas etc) straddle the line of joke music.
And a lot of it is pretty damn funny. What can you say about a band that sings exclusivly about being in love with monsters?
I was going to write ‘excluding some early stuff’ in brackets, but it would have ruined the flow. Fair enough, I’ll accept that Throwing Copper is a decent record. But Live’s new stuff? Drek, IMO. Ed Kowalcyzk may have shaved his head to look like Michael Stipe… but his over-wrought lyrics trying to be poetry are terrible. Ed’s unrelenting angsty-psuedo-religious-divine-hunger-rock-opera-schtick is getting more than irritating. But that’s just IMO.
I disagree about the Lookout bands. I think (especially MTX) they may be tongue-in-cheek songwriters, but I wouldn’t at al call it joke music. Except maybe the Groovie Ghoulies. But I’ve barely heard any of their stuff.
What burns me up is those guys take themselves really seriously in person. Joel from MTX is one of the most self-absorbed guys I ever hope to meet.
i could no longer dismiss they might be giants as a novelty after hearing ‘ana ng’. new york city made me suspect they were more than ‘dr worm’ and ‘istanbul not constantinople’ suggested (though quite worthy songs), but ana ng confirmed it. beautiful, beautiful song. congratulations, i’m really beginning to think that they might be giants.
What about Les Claypool? Most of the stuff by him or his bands that I’ve heard on the radio have been pretty funny.
I don’t personally like his work, but some of my friends do so I’ve heard it. He’s got talent so I wouldn’t pass him off in the likes of Wierd Al though I can see people would just from the stuff they would normally hear.
