I’ve been a TMBG fan for a number of years now after originally discovering them on some kind of MTV style show playing old music videos, where I was instantly captivated by the weirdness both visually and lyrically of Birdhouse In My Soul. Years later I’ve slowly collected most of their work and although they’re not what I would consider a band I’d listen to everyday, or even that frequently at all, there are always times when I find myself with a hankering for their amazingly foolish and deeply entertaining brand of pop/rock.

I’m always excited when it comes round to them releasing a new album and Join Us was no different. In fact there may have been a touch more excitement this time around after hearing that they were both revisiting their “old” sound and taking a moment off the children’s albums they have been working with over the last few years, making this their first proper “adult” album since 2007’s ‘The Else’.

From the moment Join Us starts it is evident they have managed to capture and reproduce the sound of their youth almost perfectly. The addition of the band changes things slightly but in all honesty none of these songs would be out of place on ‘Flood’ or ‘Apollo 18’. Some are so familiar sounding I could have sworn I’d heard them before after only the first listen. Whilst deeply satisfying this has lead me to have a number of songs stuck in my head over the last weekend that I fully don’t know. It drives me mad having a really catchy song stuck in my head that I literally don’t know more than three words of.

As you’d expect with TMBG there is one thing you can count on with this album. All 18 tracks are as short, snappy and addictive as each other giving me real trouble in being able to pick out ones that are my favourites, especially whilst listening to it on my iphone and not looking at the titles at all. I find myself skipping through to find a song that I really liked only to have forgotten what it even went like by the time I’ve heard the intros to 2 or 3 others.

My forgetfulness aside some of the tracks that really stand out are:

The opening track ‘Can’t Keep Johnny Down’ sucks you in immediately. In many ways a classic TMBG song but one where here you can really hear the impact in the two Johns having the rest of a band with them. A similar story with the fantastic ‘Canajoharie’, song number 4 on the album.

‘You Probably Get That A Lot’ and ‘When Will You Die’ grab you straight away, displaying classic elements of the bands unique style. both musically and lyrically these two songs are a real throw back to the likes of Ana Ng and The Statue Got Me High.

‘You Don’t Like Me’ is at least for the moment my favourite song on the album. It has all the elements of a classic TMBG song, a great story and a really catchy yet unconventional chorus, and like many of their great songs it’s almost frustratingly short, but isn’t that what the one song repeat button is for anyway?

All in all this album is honestly fantastic, there is no doubt in my mind that with a few more listens this will settle it’s place as one of my favourite albums by the two John’s. Young or Old, Giants fan or not, check out this album. There’s something for everyone and you will not be disappointed.