Additional personnel: Margaret Seiler (vocals); Eugene Chadbourne (guitar).

Engineers: Alex Noyes, Al Houghton, Bill Krauss.

Recorded at Studio Pass & Dubway Studio, New York, New York.

Personnel: Eugene Chadbourne (guitar).

Recording information: Dubway Studio, New York, NY; Studio Pass, New York, NY.

Unknown Contributor Roles: John Flansburgh; John Linnell.

They Might Be Giants' eponymous debut album is a wild fusion of new wave pop and arty post-punk experiments borrowed from the New York underground. It runs through a head-spinning 19 songs in just over 45 minutes, running the gamut from the performance-art schtick of "Chess Piece Face" and "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" to the pure pop of "Don't Let's Start" and "Everything Right Is Wrong Again." While there are a lot of geeky jokes and barely developed ideas scattered throughout the album, the sheer kaleidoscopic array of styles is intoxicating, and it helps the best songs -- the Costello-esque "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head," the sighing "Hide Away Folk Family," the stomping "(She Was A) Hotel Detective," and the gorgeous "She's an Angel" -- stand out in sharp relief. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

They Might Be Giant's eponymous debut marked the arrival of this idiosyncratic and remarkably appealing group. John Flansburgh and John Linnel exhibited the finely honed interplay that only comes from working together for a long time (the duo had begun playing together a decade earlier while still in high school). On the surface they wrote endlessly hummable ditties, but they then occupied those hook-filled worlds with catchy non-sequiturs, surrealist narratives and punning humor.

It's important to note that this wordplay was never a means to an end, but rather a further mask to hide the true core and heart of each song. It is this layering and occasional obliqueness that creates a tension within the friendly music and ultimately makes this band so compelling. Though the Giants didn't have the studio budget they were to corral for later releases, the self-production on this album adds to its charm. This is where it all began, and it is a wonderful place to begin exploring this unique musical team.