** They Might Be Giants

FACTORY SHOWROOM

(Elektra)

There are two things They Might Be Giants aren't very good at: using a living, breathing back-up band and writing serious songs. Unfortunately, that's exactly what John Flansburgh and John Linnell tried to do on 1994's John Henry. It made for some rather painfully bland listening. Factory Showroom -- the duo's seventh official full-length -- begins with what sounds like a stale leftover from John Henry, a faux-funk rocker titled "S-E-X-X-Y" that, despite its goofy aspirations, still comes off as a laughable attempt at groove -- the businesslike slap bass and flashy lead guitar on the bridge is a particularly lethal combination. Flansburgh and Linnell are best remembered as dynamic dweebs whose penchant for writing catchy-as-hell pop songs about just about anything and everything -- the more absurd and peppered with trivia the better -- was matched only by their adventurous use of low-tech studio gear. There are strong echoes of that past on Factory Showroom, in the tight and tuneful history lesson of "James K. Polk," the twisted synth tones of "Exquisite Dead Guy," and the science-project feel of "I Can Hear You," which is cooler when you realize that it was recorded on a wax cylinder at the Edison Laboratory. Still, it's probably not a good sign that the disc's best tune, a gleeful little ditty called "New York City," is a cover.

-- Matt Ashare

(They Might Be Giants play two shows at the Paradise next Thursday, December 12.)