Clawing At Nothing You Drop Through The Void

Factory Showroom

   Released in 1996, TMBG's Factory Showroom was an attempt to combined their new full band sound with their old highly personal studio-made sound.  The album has some really good songs, yet others seem to be missing something.  It seems as though TMBG was in a hurry to break there record deal with Electra which started with Flood.  Songs like Metal Detector sound reminiscent of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album.  Till My Head Falls Off is a good hard driving punk song.  The strangest song is Exquisite Dead Guy which is an insane and dark bubble gum pop song backed by strings.  The folk song James K. Polk gives a great historical over view of Polk's presidentail term.  Then there is the funky misinterpreted song S-E-X-X-Y, which is actually about a transvestite (I think).  The biggest "hits" off the album were the crazy lounge song Spiraling Shape, S-E-X-X-Y, and James K. Polk.  My personal favorite is James K. Polk.

My Rating For this Album is: B+

The Track Listing for Factory Showroom:

1. S-E-X-X-Y
2. Til My Head Falls Off
3. How Can I Sing Like A Girl
4. Exquisite Dead Guy
5. Metal Detector
6. New York City
7. Your Own Worst Enemy
8. XTC vs. Adam Ant
9. Spiraling Shape
10. James K. Polk
11. Pet Name
12. I Can Hear You
13. The Bells Are Ringing