Here Comes Science

Here Comes Science
Studio album by They Might Be Giants
Released	September 1, 2009
Genre	Children's, educational
Length	39:46
Label	Disney Sound /Idlewild
Producer	They Might Be Giants, Pat Dillett
They Might Be Giants chronology
Here Come the 123s (2008) Here Comes Science (2009) Join Us (2011)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(66/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	B+[4]
Billboard	(favorable)[5]
PopMatters	[6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
Uncut	[1]
Under the Radar	[8]
Wired	(favorable)[9]
Zooglobble	(favorable)[10]

Here Comes Science is the fourth children's album from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants, packaged as a CD/DVD set. The album is (as the title suggests) science-themed, and is the third in their line of educational albums, following 2005's Here Come the ABCs and 2008's Here Come the 123s. It was nominated for the "Best Musical Album For Children" Grammy.^[11]

Background

The band began hinting that the next children's album would be science-themed via interviews around the release of 123s, but the actual title of the album was not confirmed until an August 2008 interview with John Flansburgh for Blogcritics Magazine.^[12] The album had been in production since at least late 2007, as a very short sample clip of the music video for the song "How Many Planets" was posted in January 2008 to Colourmovie's website.^[13] The band also hired a scientific consultant for this project because, as Flansburgh admitted, "frankly, I was a terrible science student in high school. My last memory of the periodic table was right before I lost consciousness."^[14]

Here Comes Science features the songs "I Am a Paleontologist" and "Speed and Velocity", on which bass guitarist Danny Weinkauf and drummer Marty Beller sing their own compositions (respectively). This idea has been a common theme for the band's children's albums, but has never been put in place on any of their adult-oriented albums. "I Am a Paleontologist" features spoken appearances from Weinkauf's two children, Lena and Kai.^[15]

"I Am a Paleontologist" was featured in a Payless ShoeSource commercial featuring kids inside a dinosaur museum.

Track listing

The CD track listing is the same as the DVD track listing, with the exception of the bonus track "Waves", which is absent from the DVD.

Personnel

They Might Be Giants^[15]

• John Linnell – lead vocals on 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 17, 19, 20; backup vocals on 10, 16; keyboards; etc.
• John Flansburgh – lead vocals on 1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19; backup vocals on 5, 17; guitar; etc.
• Dan Miller – guitar
• Danny Weinkauf – bass guitar; lead vocals on 3
• Marty Beller – drums; lead vocals on 15

Additional vocalists^[15]

• Robin Goldwasser – lead vocals on 4, 5, 8; minor vocals on 13
• Hannah & Niffer Levine – vocals on 16
• Lena & Kai Weinkauf – vocals on 3

Horn arrangement^[15]

• Dan Levine – arrangement on 5; trombone on 1 and 5; bass trombone on 1 and 5; alto horn on 5; euphonium on 5
• Stan Harrison – tenor saxophone on 1 and 5; baritone saxophone on 1 and 5; flute on 5
• Curt Ramm – trumpet on 1 and 5; flugelhorn on 5
• Michael Leonhart – trumpet on 1 and 5; flugelhorn on 5; mellophone on 5
• Jonathan Levine – piccolo on 5; alto flute on 5; alto saxophone on 5; bass clarinet on 5

Production^[15]

References

External links

• Here Comes Science at This Might Be A Wiki
• Here Comes Science at Metacritic