This Might Be A Wiki
The TMBG Knowledge Base
Other Bands You Might Like If You Like TMBG
From This Might Be A Wiki
If I like They Might Be Giants, what other groups/artists might I like? Why?
You can recommend or un-recommend bands/artists on this list, by editing this page and adding to that artist's total votes.
| Band | Description | Rating |
| The Apples in Stereo | The most easily accessible of the Elephant 6 music collective. Great pop hooks. | 81.82% 11 total votes 
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| The Aquabats! | The Aquabats can best be described a a parody of whatever the current "alternative" is. In the 1990's they formed "to poke fun at the burgeoning ska scene". They put on Super Hero outfits and played some awesome Surf/Ska/Punk, singing songs about Martian Girls, Powdered Milkman, and Two-Headed Cats. They gained some popularity among the ska scene, and are probably best known for their 1997 single "Super Rad". For their next two albums their sound was very... experimental. Then in 2005 they released CHARGE!! With all their brass players gone and style of music changed to synth-rock/punk, it sounds a lot different from their previous albums, but their personality remains intact. | 73.53% 34 total votes 
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| Architecture In Helsinki | Jumpy Australian twee pop sextet. | 75% 8 total votes 
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| Artichoke | Somewhat pop/rock-ish, super catchy songs. Mostly about scientists. | 100% 1 total votes 
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| The Arrogant Worms | Great Canadian band, very funny songs. | 65.63% 16 total votes 
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| Atom and His Package | Nerdy synth-punk from Philadelphia's favorite son. | 100% 5 total votes
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| Barenaked Ladies | They've acknowledged great influence from TMBG, share a cleverness of lyrics, and have a depth that transcends the 'Nerd Rock' label. They also have a children's album entitled Snacktime, due out May 2008. | 71.67% 90 total votes 
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| Syd Barrett | Late founding member of Pink Floyd, back when they were a Psychedelic Rock band, who subsequently had multiple nervous breakdowns due to drugs and mental illness. Made amazing work with Pink Floyd and later on two solo albums, and very influential to many bands, possibly including TMBG. | 72.22% 9 total votes 
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| The Beatles | A foundational rock and roll band, who pushed boundaries creatively with lyrics and melody. Also, an inspiration to TMBG as said in Gigantic. | 86.73% 113 total votes 
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| Beck | Eclectic solo artist who seems to jump stylistically with each album. Twisty, cryptic lyrics and a plethora of genres from folk to punk to electronic rock. Also a Dust Brothers collaborator. | 83.85% 65 total votes 
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| Ben Folds Five | Piano, bass and drums band with distinctive sound. Many songs are "serious" and even sad, but just as many are wacky and offbeat. | 79.41% 51 total votes 
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| Ben Folds | is on his own now, still rocks. | 72.92% 24 total votes 
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| Beulah | Another Elephant 6 band; somewhat darker tone and lyrics, but still great music. | 100% 3 total votes
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| Bikeride | Fantastic band with stupidly catchy songs. They are definitely in the vein of TMBG- their albums feature love songs about mathematics, ping-pong, amnesia and blue jeans. Check out "Faking Amnesia" and you'll be hooked. | 62.5% 4 total votes 
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| Björk | Dreamy and eerie music from Iceland. Great imagination. | 41.67% 30 total votes 
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| Blasting Trout Overbite | Brilliantly weird and prolific band from State College, PA. Their website offers their entire recorded output for free in mp3 form. Catchy and creative. Download their rather awesome album Yes here: http://www.archive.org/details/yes-2005 | 50% 5 total votes 
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| The Blue Grassy Knoll | Australian bluegrass band fond of unconventional arrangements, morbid lyrics delivered with a grin, and the accordion. Fixated on the Kennedy assassination for some reason; TMBG fans will feel comfortable with major themes of presidents and death. They also paraphrase Shakespeare to great effect ("Out, out, brief candle... and take that damn spot with you as well"). | 50% 1 total votes
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| The Bonzo Dog Band | Inventive British novelty/comedy band of the late 1960s; also recommended, Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall's respective solo careers | 93.75% 16 total votes 
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| Brad Sucks | Sucky one man band. | 61.11% 9 total votes 
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| Steve Burns | Former Blues Clues host starts anew with Flaming Lips-ish pop. You should be heading to the store now! | 68.18% 11 total votes 
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| Cafe Tacuba | An odd and catchy Spanish pop/rock band. | 75% 6 total votes
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| Cake | Alternative pop/rock band with many catchy songs with quirky lyrics. | 85.33% 75 total votes 
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| Camper Van Beethoven | 80's hybrid of folk/pop/punk/rock, goofy and sometimes satirical lyrics and catchy tunes. Definite early contemporaries of TMBG. | 76.19% 21 total votes 
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| Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band | 70's surreal rock that has been cited by TMBG as an influence. | 68.92% 37 total votes 
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| Corn Mo | You've heard him on tour with TMBG, now buy his albums! Lyrics to please any TMBG fan! | 38.37% 43 total votes 
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| Common Rotation | A hybrid of pop, folk, and rock, Common Rotation delivers some catchy songs, and some deeper insights. Plus, they opened for TMBG and even do a cover of "Don't Let's Start" that compares favorably to the original. | 25% 2 total votes 
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| Jonathan Coulton | Who else sings of created a half-monkey, half-pony to give to his crush? Hilarious lyrics in music that doesn't sound jokey. | 82.5% 20 total votes 
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| Crash Test Dummies | Albums range in styles similar to The Residents and Barenaked Ladies. Worth a look. | 50% 35 total votes
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| Dan Deacon | A self-described "absurdist composer and electronic musician" from Baltimore, Maryland. His influences include TMBG, Devo, and Talking Heads, among others. His electronic sound and wildly imaginative lyrics cry out to be listened to. | 87.5% 4 total votes 
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| The Dandy Warhols | Fantastic variety. | 78.57% 21 total votes 
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| Datarock | Two guys, a guitar, a keyboard, and a drum machine. They certainly don't sound anything like TMBG (except for "Man It's So Loud In Here"). However this Nowegian combos first album Datarock Datarock combines electro-rock with great melodies, fantastic beats, and geeky lyrics. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Da Vinci's Notebook | Humorous acapella quartet with clever/bizarre songs. Collaborated with Moxy Früvous (see further down on list) on a cover of TMBG's Shoehorn With Teeth as well. Like TMBG, they have done a music video on Homestar Runner. No longer together. | 87.5% 8 total votes
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| The dB's | Aside from being mentioned in the song Twisting, the dB's were an extremely talented early 80s underground group, and sound eerily similar to TMBG in many ways. Also had a penchant for dark/upbeat songs (a prime example being the song "Black and White" from their debut). | 50% 3 total votes
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| The Dead Milkmen | Another inventive, catchy, and sometimes humorous band unfortunately discarded by many as a novelty act. Look no further than their song "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance To Anything)" for an example of their stinging wit. | 81.82% 11 total votes
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| Death Cab For Cutie | Death, love, weirdness..and they once did opening acts on a TMBG show . | 57.14% 28 total votes 
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| The Decemberists | Eclectic indie rock band from Portland, sometimes compared to Neutral Milk Hotel. Signed to same imprint as Deerhoof. Uses accordion on most tracks. Literary, sometimes joking or theatrical; Even their darkest stuff is usually catchy. Fans of McSweeney's. | 92.5% 20 total votes 
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| Deerhoof | A band granted with the almost supernatural ability to combine cute lyrical content with amazing musicianship and a hefty dose of barely controlled chaos. Probably best suited for TMBG fans who lean toward the more experimental, but still a blast to listen to. | 100% 2 total votes
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| DEVO | They did "Whip It", yes, but so much more too. Witty, sarcastic, sardonic, and a little fun too. Their first album, Are We Not Men, is very guitar-oriented, although their subsequent albums have more of a synthpop feel. TMBG covered Devo's Through Being Cool. | 87.32% 71 total votes 
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| Devin Davis | Probably the next great nerd rocker. | 50% 2 total votes
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| Eric Dolphy | Adventurous jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. TMBG's early, instrumental/noise breakdowns tend to remind me of his work, especially the masterpiece album Out to Lunch. | 100% 1 total votes
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| The Doors | Musical geniuses, very trippy. | 50% 16 total votes
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| Bob Dylan | Iconic iconoclast. Pioneer of rock poetry. Often-cryptic lyrics in a wide variety of musical styles. | 80.56% 18 total votes 
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| Eddie From Ohio | Fun, energetic all-acoustic folk rock from Virginia. Their 2001 album "Quick" was their biggest step towards the wackiness of TMBG. | 66.67% 6 total votes 
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| Eels | Death, love, weirdness, sampling...it's all good! | 78.57% 14 total votes
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| Electric Doormat | Prog rock with accordion, from Portland, Oregon. | 100% 1 total votes
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| The Features | Power pop band with prominent guitars and strange keyboard lines. | 75% 4 total votes
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| The Flaming Lips | psychedelic and often goofy indie group whose music ranges from acid rock to punk to mellow electronica. Highly addictive. Stiddy Says: And If you like Linnell's songwriting in particular, you'll LOVE Wayne Coyne (The Lips' singer)'s stuff. | 78.95% 57 total votes 
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| Flight of the Conchords | "New Zealand's Fourth Most-Popular Folk/Parody Duo." Actors/comedians/musicians Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement write smart, catchy, and twisted songs about love, sex, and humanity's extinction at the hands of robots. Catch them on YouTube or in their own series on HBO. | 87.5% 4 total votes
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| Fountains of Wayne | Quirky pop band whose bass player, Adam Schlesinger, produced songs from Mink Car. Plus Danny W. played bass on their first album. | 57% 50 total votes 
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| The Four Postmen | Their song structure mirrors TMBG, with a mixture of funny-but-sad and just plain funny lyrics, with an accordion popping up here and there. | 100% 3 total votes
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| Franz Ferdinand | UK rock band that have the same Funny But Sad and Death In A Happy Way lyrics that TMBG put out. Plus, the music rocks. | 69.05% 42 total votes 
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| Frog Eyes | Insane frontman brings to mind Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel in his intensity, but his otherworldy hooks and lyrics are all his own. | 83.33% 3 total votes 
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| Gnarls Barkley | Calling this group "hip-hop" would be a major underestimation. The match of neo-soul singer Cee-Lo and music nerd Danger Mouse provides songs always quirky and full of texture. | 50% 2 total votes
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| Gorillaz | Variety of instruments, clever lyrics, very good sound. Flansburgh says that their 2001 hit, Clint Eastwood, was the best song of the year, along with a Missy Elliot song. | 72.73% 22 total votes 
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| Green Day | Punk rock band, formed in the late 80's and now one of the most popular bands in the world. Very TMBG-ish lyrics, and great music, especially on their 1994 album Dookie. Worth checking out even if you dislike their newer singles that plague the radiowaves. | 43.55% 31 total votes 
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| Grandaddy | Clever indie rock/electronic band that recently split up. They made some great stuff before they parted, check out their albums. | 75% 2 total votes
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| The Groovie Ghoulies | Zippy punk band which writes songs often involving aliens, zombies, vampires, el chupacabras and other monsters. Check out "Graceland", "My Computer Said Kill, I Said All Right", "Zombie Crush" and "Normal is a Million Miles Away" | 100% 1 total votes
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| Guided By Voices | Critically acclaimed indie lo-fi group. Known for short, concise basement rock, with lyrical stream-of-consciousness. Musical aesthetic comparable to TMBG's "Mainstream U.S.A." days. Have written some of the BEST MELODIES EVER. Check out their albums Bee thousand and Alien Lanes. | 66.67% 6 total votes
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| Bruce Haack | Very early electronic artist. Most TMBG-ish song is "Funky Little Song". Other recommended songs are "Electric To Me Turn" and "Gastronomicplentyfication" | 100% 1 total votes
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| A Halo Called Fred | The best guitar, bass and Tupperware band in New Jersey. Complete with Invisible Friend. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Hard 'n Phirm | Quirky and hilarious songs that resemble TMBG and some of them are even educational (they're most known for their song about Pi)! | 50% 5 total votes
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| Harvey Danger | The site is old, but the message board lives and the music is still incredible. | 73.68% 19 total votes 
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| History & civilization of the Great Black Swamp | Nautical themed Muppet rock with an obsession with the macabre. Album is free and awesome. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Hotel Lights | Indie band formed by former drummer of Ben Folds Five, Darren Jesse. Songs boast beautiful synth, piano, and guitar melodies and a generally heavenly, relaxed, and engaging feel. They also did a great cover of The End of the Tour for the Hello Radio: The Songs Of They Might Be Giants tribute album. This is the kind of band that can be played over and over again. Not very well known now, but would not be surprised to see them become very popular. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Islands | A reincarnation of the Unicorns. (see below) | 87.5% 4 total votes
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| Kaiser Chiefs | They have they same style of sing out loud songs in the same vein as Doctor Worm and Experimental Film. | 81.25% 8 total votes 
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| Kaizer's Orchestra | High energy Norweigan band that tells stories of dictators, gangsters, hell, and war. Very good music, includes a pump organ that adds a element of demented circus music. They sing in Norweigan, but english lyrics can be found here. | 100% 4 total votes
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| King Missile | Most well known for the very strange song "Detachable Penis," the group combines great musicianship with an exceptionally bizarre sense of humor. | 78.57% 7 total votes
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| The Knobs | Creative lyrics and they use electric tuba for the bass. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Lemon Demon | Zany, weird, odd. Does remind one of TMBG in that the Johns and Neil (User:Trapezoid) have almost the same nasal quality to their voices. The lyrics, as well, are happy, sad, clever, bizarre...a variety. | 81.13% 53 total votes 
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| Life In A Blender | Head man Don Ralph belts out some amazing lyrics backed by Al Houghton (who helped produce TMBG back in the day) on guitar and Mel Melon, the most amusing horn player in the world. John Linnell plays accordion for one song too! | 0% 1 total votes 
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| Logan Whitehurst and the Jr. Science Club | Extremely creative and diverse songwriter, and a fan of TMBG. Passed away on December 3, 2006 at the young age of 29. | 79.55% 22 total votes 
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| The Magnetic Fields | Their love songs are melodic and quirky, with lots of wordplay. | 100% 10 total votes
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| MC Chris | The most ear-pleasing of the recent "nerdcore" trend (hiphop/rap with interesting lyrics) | 85.29% 17 total votes 
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| MC Frontalot | Another purveyor of the nerdcore hiphop scene, some say he's the unofficial spokesman of the genre. His anthem "Nerdcore Hip-Hop samples Shoehorn With Teeth | 50% 4 total votes
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| Men, Women, and Children | New York based high-energy, moog-heavy disco synth-punk. One of the few bands that can pull off audience participation like TMBG. Be sure to check out their bizarre music video for Dance In My Blood. | 50% 2 total votes
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| Modest Mouse | Unpretentious indie-rock with clever lyrics (sample line: "You cocked your head to shoot me down") and arrangements that melt slowly in your head, revealing subtle landscapes of melodic goodness (Note: "Paper Thin Walls" contains the lyric laugh hard it's a long ways to the bank placed fairly prominently and that Isaac Brock had started his own Dial-A-Song service. 8 of the tracks from their album Sad Sappy Sucker were used for it). | 80.56% 18 total votes
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| The Moody Blues | Meticulously orchestrated classic rock group from across the sea. | 82.14% 14 total votes 
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| The Mountain Goats | A lyrical genius writes acoustic pop songs, with charming, funny and poignant narrative and furious guitar strumming. A must-see live band, too. Check out their album The Coroner's Gambit. | 95% 10 total votes 
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| Moxy Früvous | Wacky Canadian band with many fast-paced parody and humor songs. Have also been known to play a few TMBG covers live including "The Statue Got Me High". Have been on hiatus since 2001, but their fans are still a tightly-knit bunch. | 70% 45 total votes 
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| Mr. Bungle | Scary, schizophrenic circus music with certain unreal qualities that might appeal to TMBG's more unhinged fans. | 80% 15 total votes 
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| The Music Tapes | Lo-fi, experimental, Elephant 6. Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel (who also played the singing saw on James K. Polk)'s escape from the real world. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Nine Inch Nails | Angry electronic madness. | 29.17% 12 total votes 
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| No Kill I | A Star Trek Punk Band about the original series. If you like TMBG chances are you are nerdy and nothing is more nerdy than Trek. | 66.67% 3 total votes
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| Neutral Milk Hotel | Quite possibly the greatest band to have ever been associated with Elephant 6. Extremely impressionistic and often personal lyrics combined with some absolutely genius (and 60s inspired, as is a given with anything related to Elephant 6) music. Pity the group only ever released two albums. | 86.67% 15 total votes 
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| Oingo Boingo | Formerly The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, this 1979-1995 rock band was powered by the talents of film composer Danny Elfman. Ska-influenced initially but encompassing a huge range of other, experimental styles, Boingo lyrics are alternately bitingly intelligent and completely surreal, much like those of TMBG. Check out "Helpless", "Nasty Habits", "Reptiles and Samurai", "Insanity" or "It Only Makes Me Laugh" to start. | 100% 3 total votes
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| OK Go | Recent openers for TMBG, best characterized as really good power pop. | 68.75% 40 total votes 
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| One Ring Zero | 100% 2 total votes
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| Ookla the Mok | Songs about comic books, tv shows and sci-fi movies. Fans of TMBG - "...told him Flansburgh that lots of people say we sound like TMBG. He responded, 'That must be terrible for you'." | 81.82% 11 total votes
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| Oppenheimer | Two guys from Belfast, Ireland, with amazingly catchy songs that can best be categorized as indie/pop/electronica. Lots of keyboards, plus vocoders, airhorns, melodicas, and various other cool stuff. Opened for TMBG for the Fall 2007 tour. | 90% 5 total votes 
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| Otis Ball | "Discovered" by John & John. They played on one of his albums. Wicked sense of humor. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Optiganally Yours | 93.75% 8 total votes
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| Palm Trees | San Diego duo featuring wiki users James b and Matt g. | 75% 4 total votes
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| Pat and Brendan | Australian band heavily influenced by TMBG. Similar foundations, one member on guitar another on accordion. Now with a full band, their songs are quite quirky like TMBG, and have songs about iced tea, large Earth conquering robots and jerks. Their debut album contains a few TMBG covers. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Paul and Storm | Former members of Da Vinci's Notebook (above), Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo have now been going on their own. Touring with Jonathan Coulton (also above), these two guys bring their witty, interesting lyrics and catchy tunes to you. | 66.67% 3 total votes
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| Pavement | The leaders of 90s indie rock. Originally very lo-fi and basic musically with clever wordy lyrics and unusual vocal styles, Pavement gradually developed a more together sound and complex song structures. That did not, however, stop percussion/keyboard/backup vocalist Bob Nastanovich from his catchy screaming of refrains in live performances or Pavement from playing their earlier songs too. After the band's break up at the end of 1999, its leader Stephen Malkmus began playing with his new band called the Jicks. Their albums are good, but nothing compared to Pavement. | 90.91% 11 total votes 
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| The Phenomenauts | Quirky space rock. Check it out. | 100% 2 total votes
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| Piñataland | Musically slower and different, but their music overlaps thematically with TMBG with many songs based on unusual historical situations. | 50% 4 total votes
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| Pixies | Former (Well, not anymore) band of Frank Black. The combination of Frank Black's Surrealist lyrics and inhuman screams along with Kim Deal's laid back, sexy vocals and punchy bass-playing, David Lovering's amazingly powerful drumming (Just listen to "Bone Machine"!). | 83.33% 12 total votes
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| The Polyphonic Spree | A surreal pop-ish band with light music and inspired lyrics. The type of music that makes one feel good inside. | 100% 4 total votes
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| Polysics | The ultimate Japanese New Wave band. They cite Devo and Kraftwerk as some of their major influences, and epitomize New Wave melody while still appealing to modern tastes with their incredible energy and uniquely Japanese upbringing. The lead singer has a voice like no other, and the backup vocals are done by a Japanese woman with a typically high-pitched voice. | 89.29% 14 total votes 
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| The Postal Service | Great indie inspirations. A very original band. | 77.78% 9 total votes 
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| The Presidents of the United States of America | Poppy band with quirky lyrics. | 79.55% 44 total votes
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| Ramones | One of TMBG's inspirations, not to mention the ORIGINAL punk band. Most of their songs are similarly compact with no extra 'fluff'. | 79.07% 43 total votes 
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| Red Elvises | A group of Russian immigrants who play rockabilly influenced music with amusing lyrics. | 83.33% 3 total votes
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| Reel Big Fish | Ska band featuring awesome horn parts, poppy melodies, and a great sense of humor. Played a few times with TMBG. | 50% 2 total votes
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| Regina Spektor | Unique and sometimes bizarre lyrics with unconventional, classical based accompaniments. | 50% 2 total votes
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| The Residents | Creepy and mysterious band who wear eye ball masks and tuxedos, music alternates between experimental rock and the fully avant-garde. Contributed four songs to John Flansburgh's Hello CD project. Forefounders of experimental music, credited with inventing the modern music video, by the Museum of Modern Art, have kept their identities secret for over 30 years... spooky. Their "Commercial Album" inspired Fingertips. | 85.42% 24 total votes 
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| R.E.M. | Another band that many people have heard of but bears the "Alternative Rock" label. Much more serious than TMBG. | 80.7% 57 total votes 
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| The Right Bastards | Another great Brooklyn band, great catchy melodies and wonderfully weird lyrics. Their album "Nobody Likes You" is a must-have. Listen to their songs Lee Wang and Mambo Like a Madman and see if you're not immediately hooked. | 0% 1 total votes
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| Self | Great band, a highlight of the band is an album created entirely with children's toy instruments, TMBG fans will love it. Also check out Selfies.com for some mp3s. | 80% 5 total votes
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| Shameless Strangers | NY/VT based band that also started as a lo-fi two-guy operation and progressed into the "full band" sound. Very clever and often amusing lyrics, accompanied by diverse and frighteningly catchy tunesmanship. | 100% 2 total votes
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| The Sleeves | Quirky nerd rock from the midwest. | 75% 2 total votes
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| SNMNMNM | Impossible to pronounce (S an' M an' M an' M), and influenced heavily by TMBG. Their older stuff in particular would appeal to TMBG fans. | 50% 3 total votes
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| Snot Patties | Lo fi, acoustic pop band inspired by TMBG, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Mountain Goats, Guided by Voices, etc. Records wonderfully catchy and weird pop nuggets in their bedrooms and uploads them for the world to hear! | 25% 4 total votes
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| Soul Coughing | Mike Doughty, lead singer, sings on Your Mom's Alright and Mr. Xcitement. | 83.87% 31 total votes 
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| Sondre Lerche | Just when you thought Scandinavia was all out of pop acts! | 0% 1 total votes
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| Sparks | Pioneers of quirk-rock and synth-pop. Two guys sharing a name; one shy, the other an extrovert. Songs on an unusually broad range of topics. Sound familiar? John Flansburgh's favourite band. High praise indeed. | 100% 15 total votes
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| Starlight Mints | Brilliant indie band from Oklahoma that uses a wide range of instruments to create a surreal melodic explosion. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Sufjan Stevens | Folk artist with interesting lyrics and instrumentation. His plans are recording an album for every state of the United States - similar to John Linnell's State Songs project. | 87.5% 12 total votes
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| Super Furry Animals | Kinda like if you crossed The Flaming Lips with Blur...but WELSH!! | 50% 1 total votes
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| Talking Heads | Fairly similar to TMBG, good alternative rock (if there's a real definition of that genre), they don't take themselves too seriously and they have great music videos.- David Byrne could be the 3rd Giant. | 84.82% 56 total votes 
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| Tally Hall | Very TMBG-ish band who plays a wide variety of styles, with catchy, pop-ish tunes, fun and wacky lyrics, and great energy and attitude. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Tapes 'n Tapes | Cool indie surf rock, kinda like a mix of the Pixies and Pavement. | 50% 2 total votes
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| Tears For Fears | Catchy songs and wild videos. | 55.56% 9 total votes 
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| Throwing Toasters | Great band with songs about such diverse things as freak love and bad influences. | 66.67% 3 total votes
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| Those Darn Accordions! | Because accordion-based rock bands are few and far between. | 64.29% 7 total votes 
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| Tom Smith | From his website: Acoustic folk-rock, mostly comedy, influenced by but in no way limited to science fiction, fantasy, movies, comic books, politics, popular culture, classic rock 'n' roll, musicals, and anything else in the immediate vicinity. Think Weird Al Yankovic, only more literate. Lots of parodies, lots of improv, lots and lots of puns. | 83.33% 3 total votes
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| Tom Waits | If you're into the "fun lyrics with a bizarre vocalist" thing. Like Linnell, tends to focus on the insane and depressed, and likes to give his losers a jaunty melody. | 84.21% 19 total votes 
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| The Trachtenburg family slideshow players | Opened for TMBG several times. | 33.33% 3 total votes 
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| TriangleMan | Yes, they do exist. And are obviously heavily influenced by TMBG, though they don't always sound like them. Check the website for audio samples and CD ordering. | 60% 5 total votes 
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| TV's Kyle | Genre-surfing geek rock with a hint of 60s-tastic jackassery. | 100% 2 total votes
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| The Unicorns | Unfortunately split up in 2004, these guys left behind ideas like "verse-chorus-verse", and replaced them with idea like using toy keyboards and singing Funny But Sad lyrics. Complete with song titles like "Innoculate The Innocuous", "Tuff Ghost", "I Don't Wanna Die", and "Ready To Die", these two (!) guys (Well, okay, they also have a drummer...) are definitely worth hearing. Especially recommended for people whose favorite TMBG albums are The Pink Album and Lincoln. | 100% 2 total votes
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| The Ventures | Supposedly the best selling instrumental rock band ever. They have a surf vibe. They're very good and also very interesting. | 75% 6 total votes
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| Violent Femmes | Epitomizes the ambiguous, sometimes comic but always defiant sexual angst of the white teen suburban outcast. Trailblazing and now classic. Greatest hits include "Add It Up" and "Blister in the Sun." Frontman Gordon Gano contributed to Flansburgh's Hello CD Of The Month Club and Linnell had a guest appearance appeared on Gano's premiere solo effort. | 78.75% 40 total votes 
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| Warp 11 | A Star Trek band that takes a bunch of different song styles and makes tham about Star Trek. Catchy but kinda raunchy. | 100% 1 total votes
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| Ween | Another duo also armed with either a drum machine or full band, faux-brothers Dean and Gene Ween make music similar to TMBG in its embracing of genre shifting, yet with a darker, more psychedelic edge. Best albums include the classic "Chocolate and Cheese" and their debut "GodWeenSatan: The Oneness". Not for everyone, but some TMBG fans will love it. | 81.94% 36 total votes 
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| Weezer | Nerdy powerpop. Fairly similar to TMBG, but without synths and more fuzz. | 74.26% 68 total votes 
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| "Weird Al" Yankovic | Everyone's favorite accordion-playing parody-writing artist. Frequent player of the accordion, comedic and sometimes surreal. He also has a tribute to TMBG, Everything You Know Is Wrong. | 81.74% 115 total votes 
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| White Stripes | A rock duo, which combines complex guitar riffs with pounding drum rhythms and very cryptic lyrics that pave a image in your head of nonsensical romance. If you are looking for an album that combines great sounds with some bluesy hardcore rock, look towards Elephant and thou shall be joined together with the Holy Ghost. | 75% 32 total votes
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| Wilco | Half of what used to be the Alt-Country band Uncle Tupelo (The other half became Son Volt), Wilco's music is an odd mix of pop, country, rock and trip-hop with intelligent and sometimes heart-wrenching lyrics. | 81.25% 8 total votes
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| XTC | They're "Beatle-based pop", and were the "Content" (Whereas Adam Ant was the form) in XTC Vs. Adam Ant. TMBG covered 25 O'Clock on A Testimonial Dinner - The Songs Of XTC | 82.5% 40 total votes
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| Frank Zappa | Rock/jazz/classical/R&B fusionist who pushed the envelope musically and lyrically. An incomparable genius who has also been cited by Linnell as an early influence. | 86.17% 47 total votes 
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| Worm Quartet | They're a "Comedy Synth-Punk from Rochester NY", Synth Band, involving one or two members doing all the music, in various styles of music (appeared on Dr. Demento in the songs "I'm gonna procreate" and "Great Idea for a song" | 100% 3 total votes
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[edit] See also
- References To Other Songs Or Musicians
- Similar Artists at Last.fm
- TMBG at Music Map, a similar folksonomy
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