After releasing a handful of quirky albums peppered with accordions, tubas, trumpets and other non-traditional pop instruments, the group’s core duo, John Flansburgh and John Linnell, made the big time in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Like so many artists, they initially had a hard time attracting the attention of record labels, so they hatched a plan. Their Dial-A-Song service offered new tunes via a telephone answering machine as a way of spreading their music.

It worked and soon the band was touring and making hit albums, among them Flood, which spawned singles “Birdhouse in Your Soul” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople).”

Self dubbed the “thinking man’s drinking band,” They Might Be Giants blend virtually every musical genre, combined with Flansburgh and Linnell’s own brand of eccentric and often intellectual humor.

They’ve tackled subjects ranging form obscure historical trivia to physics, to the mundane world of relationships.

Although they were pushed aside for awhile when grunge emerged in the ‘90s, The band built a die-hard fan base thanks to their constant presence on college radio and have remained a steady fixture in clubs and theatres.

Incidentally, TMBG is responsible for the theme song to TV’s hit show “Malcolm in the Middle” as well as the opening theme and incidental music for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”