They Might Be Giants have not aged well. Join Us, the band’s latest record, is kind of depressing, actually. What we have here is a group of guys that just doesn’t know when to call it quits. They’ve accomplished everything that they could ever hope to with this project—it’s time for them to move on. Something tells me that they won’t be doing that anytime soon, though.
At this point, it’s almost as if The Giants have become a parody of themselves. Join Us is contrived. The offbeat lyrics are forced, compared to Flood, at least. They’re trying to be kooky now, while this just happened naturally in the past. Look no further than the cover art, and you’ll see what I mean. You’ll also save yourself 47 minutes if that’s all that you invest in this record.
Fortunately for The Giants, in their two-plus decades of record releasing, they’ve gathered a huge fan base—a very supportive one, at that. If they’re playing shows, there will always be fans to buy tickets and merch. It’s hard to justify continuous tours without continuous releases, though.
It’s time for the fans to wake up. You’re living in a nostalgia-coated cloud if you say that this record has any redeeming qualities to it. The lyrics are weak, the instrumentation is lacking—the strange attempt at minimalism just comes off as lazy—and it’s undeniably boring. There isn’t one catchy or single-worthy track on here. Sorry, with a band like They Might Be Giants, you need a few of those. Even Weezer has If You’re Wondering…
Swole Ear 
You know what? I didn’t like them when their quirkiness was fresh and sincere. Now that it is stale and forced — I have even less use for them. I like a novelty act as much as the next guy, but, other than Weird Al, they should be heard from once and then banished to the cutout rack (that’s a record store reference for you youngsters).