They Might Be Giants get behind new album

Their 12th album is about to drop and They Might Be Giants are launching a marathon tour to support it.

So far, the quirky rockers have announced summer and fall dates all over the US, including several shows at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, and free performances July 22 in Detroit and July 28 in Uncasville, CT. The next gig on the itinerary is July 18 in the Big Apple.

They Might Be Giants, who are also critically acclaimed in children's music circles, have at least one family show on the books--Aug. 4 in Oyster Bay, NY. The band's current itinerary is listed below; a posting at its MySpace page states that more dates will be added into next year.

The two Johns behind TMBG--singer/guitarist John Flansburgh and singer/keyboardist John Linnell--will release their new album, "The Else," tomorrow (7/10). The set, which took a year and half to make, was created in collaboration with LA producers the Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys) and New York City producer/engineer Patrick Dillett (Mary J. Blige, David Byrne).

The record was pre-released as an iTunes exclusive May 15 and hit No. 1 on the website's Alternative Chart. A couple of songs from the set are streaming at TMBG's MySpace page.

In addition to providing an outlet for lovers of oddball pop-rock, They Might Be Giants have made a fine career of creating music for film and television. They provide the theme and create all the incidental music for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and they won a Grammy in 2002 for the "Malcolm in the Middle" theme song, "Boss of Me."

They've also written and performed music for the film "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and television's "The Simpsons," ABC's "Nightline Primetime," and "Dexter's Laboratory," to name a few.

During their 25-year career, TMBG have sold more than 4 million records, according to their website. In 2005, they put out their second album of Children's music, "Here Come the ABCs."