They Might Not Be Scientists, But No Matter

John Flansburgh and John Linnell, who have for more than 25 years worked and played together as New York-based duo They Might Be Giants, have released "Here Comes Science," the group's fourth album for kids.

Fans of the band will certainly find the familiar festively ear-wormy melodic content and unbridled humor and wordplay common throughout TMBG's body of work. But more to the matter, "Here Comes Science" serves as a delightful delivery device for illuminating a diverse array of scientific concepts for curious young minds.

The combination of a catchy tune with witty, often silly lyrics, a hallmark of TMBG's song craft, is specifically designed to illustrate topics such as cell theory, optics, chemistry and the scientific method, among others.

An example of a silly take on serious subjects, from the song "Cells":

A cell knows what it has to do

To grow into some moss or a shrew

Algae or a kangaroo

Bug or a sunflower

Dwight David Eisenhower

A frog, a fish or you

See, it's simply not enough to have a toe-tapping ditty that introduces DNA, describes its structure, its role as a blueprint for exactly what structures and functions the cell will embody. They also take the opportunity to throw a zany little curve ball, and perhaps get the young ones to ask -- and, to find out -- just who this Dwight David Eisenhower character was.

And making sure everyone's having fun, the need to do justice to the material itself was a core value of the entire project. The band hired a Ph.D. scientist to serve as a consultant, in an effort to ensure that the concepts are presented in an age appropriate and scientifically accurate way. They were glad to have the help getting it right. In a statement on the band's Web site, Flansburgh fesses up:

"Frankly, I was a terrible science student in high school. My last memory of the periodic table was right before I lost consciousness."

And then, lastly, there's the video content. The music by itself is plenty interesting and heaps of fun, but the release is a paired audio CD and DVD package featuring, in an impressive range of visual styles, wonderfully animated videos for each of the album's 19 songs.

I'm hopeful that all who read this page will take me up on my suggestion: Go watch this video, for the song "Electric Car." If you don't end up finding yourself completely delighted, charmed and in possession of a happy tune that's burrowed into your head, let me know, and I'll try to make it up to you somehow.

"Here Comes Science" is currently available for purchase through iTunes and will be available through other retail venues later in the month. Kids of all ages are likely to find it entertaining and informative, and able to put the "fun" fully in the fundamentals of science.

Photo courtesy of Tgies, via Wikimedia Commons