Severe Tire Damage by They Might Be Giants

Severe Tire Damage is primarily a live album by They Might Be Giants, released in 1998. It also features a few studio tracks, including a new single Doctor Worm. The live cuts, some recorded at soundchecks without any audience, feature at least one track from every album since their debut, which include a few old fan favorites that have been reworked since the duo adopted a full backing band. Songs like She's an Angel, from their debut They Might Be Giants and Birdhouse in Your Soul from their major label debut Flood, are treated to multiple guitars and a horn section. Conversely, the song Meet James Ensor originally appeared on their first full band effort John Henry and surfaces here in a bare-bones rendition, with only vocals and an accordion. Besides the aforementioned lack of an audience on several tracks, some tracks have also undergone studio "retooling" - most notably Ana Ng which appeared in its untampered form (with an uncropped intro and heavily distorted voice saying, "I don't want the world...") on the 1994 promo-only release Live!! New York City. In truth, this 'live album' is not particularly representative of a live TMBG show, failing to show the on-stage improvisation, humor, and audience participation that are characteristic of a They Might Be Giants concert. A condensed version of this album was released as Live, which featured 10 of the 24 tracks listed here. Song Notes Doctor Worm, Severe Tire Damage, and About Me were recorded in a studio rather than onstage; Meet James Ensor was recorded in a hotel room. Tracks 18-24 were improvised in concert, apparently based on the Planet of the Apes movie series. They are "hidden" in that they are not listed in the track listing on the back of the album, and there is a long space after the end of About Me, but the lyrics for 19 are printed in the liner notes and the songs do have their own individual tracks on the CD. First Kiss was later reworked and put on the 2001 album Mink Car as Another First Kiss, with the same basic melody and similar lyrics but a substantially different style and tempo. Similarly, They Got Lost was later recorded in the studio, and was released on Long Tall Weekend as well as later being the title track on the rarities compilation album They Got Lost. ℗ 2013 Idlewild Recordings