*** They Might Be Giants

SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE

(Restless)

Severe tire damage is surely what results when you tour as hard as Bay State expatriates John Linnell and John Flansburgh have for more than a decade. A collection of live tracks recorded last year at various venues, Damage features appropriately rough-edged, often wild versions of many of TMBG's best-loved nuggets of warped delight: "Birdhouse in Your Soul," "Ana Ng," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," and my personal favorite, "Particle Man."

There's some dross here, but this collection serves as a fine survey of the band's career, especially if you were overwhelmed by last year's 72-track compilation, Then. The CD offers some silly new treats as well, including a couple of new studio tracks (notably the bright "Doctor Worm") and several bonus tracks inspired by the Planet of the Apes movies and created spontaneously on stage. Balancing lyrics that celebrate the trivial and the arcane with deliberate musical craftsmanship that defies genre boundaries (rock, jump swing, Cajun, funk, cocktail jazz), Damage is serious fun.

-- Gary Susman