Unsupervised
They Might Be Giants member John Flansburgh is a bit less smart-alecky than usual on this side-project, but other than that it isn't a huge departure from his usual approach.Unsupervisedis an enjoyably scattershot hodgepodge of styles, encompassing a biker instrumental ("Guitar Was the Case"), space-pop esoterica ("Distant Antenna"), loping balladry ("So Long, Mockingbird"), reckless novelty ("Careless Santa") and reconfigured glam ("Hello Hello"), plus tongue-in-cheek tributes to Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee ("What Bothers the Spaceman" and a dead president ("Nixon's the One"). Flansburgh also demonstrates his song-plugging savvy by putting a power-pop spin on Amy Rigby's torch-country classic-to-be "Don't Break the Heart."--Scott Schinder