Here Comes Science

Personnel: John Flansburgh (vocals, guitar); John Linnell (vocals, keyboards); Niffer Levine, Lena Weinkauf, Kai Weinkauf, Hannah Levine, Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser (vocals); Dan John Miller, Dan Miller (guitar); Stan Harrison (flute, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jonathan Levine (alto flute, piccolo, bass clarinet, alto saxophone); Curt Ramm, Michael Leonhart (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dan Levine , Dan "D Unit" Levine (trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, alto horn); Marty Beller (drums).
Audio Mixer: Patrick Dillett.
Recording information: Collyer Brothers Studio, Brooklyn; Collyer Brothers Studio, Brooklyn, NY; Coyote Studio, Brooklyn; Kampo Studios, Manhattan; The Governor's Bluff, Sullivan County.
Animations: Ace Kennedy & The Candies; Jeremy Galante; Liesje Kraai; Adam Sacks; Chris Conforti.
Creators: Matthew Canale; Hine Mizushima; Divya Srinivasan; Sean McBride; Bill Morrison ; Matt Eller; Ru Kuwahata; Pascal Campion.
Directors: Rob Shaw; Ace Kennedy & The Candies; Jeremy Galante; Liesje Kraai; Ru Kuwahata; David H. Cowles.
Arrangers: Dan Levine ; Dan "D Unit" Levine.
Routinely described as "quirky," and "zany," They Might Be Giants have always seemed like self-consciously intellectual adults trying their darndest to hold on to childhood. It makes sense then, that John Flansburgh and John Linnell would eventually start making music expressly for children. HERE COMES SCIENCE is the group's fourth effort to this end, following albums about numbers, letters, and all other manner of kid-centric topics. Here, TMBG point their microscope towards the physical world and its phenomena. In addition to more predictable topics like dinosaurs ("I Am a Palentologist") and the Periodic Table ("Meet the Elements"), the duo actually addresses more complex, but no less essential, concepts such as the fluidity of scientific fact; "Why Does the Sun Shine?" maintains that the sun is made of gas, while the following song, "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?" corrects that earlier assumption, revealing that the celestial body is, as more recent theories dictate, composed of plasma. Throughout, They Might Be Giants are unafraid of using advanced vocabulary and introducing thoroughly adult ideas, trusting that, with the help of the group's trademark talent for stick-in-the-head melodies and vibrant pop arrangements, younger listeners are more than up to the intellectual task.