A collection of harder-to-find material from stalwart alt-rock duo They Might Be Giants - released on vinyl last year - gets a wider availability on CD this month.

The Spine Surfs Alone: Rarities 1998-2005 is available at general retail on May 30, having been available from the band's official store since earlier this spring. (A vinyl version was surprise released last November, during which the album was made available digitally through Bandcamp as well.) The set includes the balance of two EPs: 2000's Working Undercover for the Man, released only through the early digital service eMusic, and 2004's The Spine Surfs Alone, an early release on the band's own Idlewild Recordings label. The album is balanced out by a few single cuts, compilation appearances (including covers of Paul McCartney and a song from the soundtrack to , material from the mostly live album Severe Tire Damage (1998) and an unreleased instrumental version of "T-Shirt," a song recorded during the sessions for TMBG's 2005 children's album Here Come the ABCs.

This period marked the Brooklyn-born group - consisting primarily of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, though they'd add a fuller backing band in the mid-'90s - breaking away from the Elektra label after an unlikely rise to success. Signing to Reckless Records (ironically, like Elektra, then distributed by Warner Music Group), TMBG issued Severe Tire Damage, a strikingly-rearranged live album featuring a few new bits including studio single "Doctor Worm." While they'd release a few studio albums with the label, including 2001's Mink Car and 2004's The Spine (outtakes of which became an EP that shares a title with this collection), their best-known work may have been another track featured on this set: "Boss of Me," the Grammy-winning theme song to the FOX sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. (During this period, they also began their first forays into children's music, adapting their quirky sound and oddball lyrical bent into fun for the whole family on 2002's No!) Their bona fides well-established afterward, the Johns would shortly found Idlewild Recordings, where they've released most of their albums ever since.

You can obtain your copy of The Spine Surfs Alone CD at the link below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Spine Surfs Alone: Rarities 1998-2005 (Idlewild Recordings IDLE190CD, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. The Spine Surfs Alone
2. Now is Strange
3. I'm All You Can Think About
4. Fun Assassin
5. Skullivan
6. The Other Side of the World
7. Canada Haunts Me
8. Doctor Worm
9. Severe Tire Damage Theme
10. They Got Lost (Live)
11. Why Does the Sun Shine? (Live)
12. Boss of Me (Single Version)
13. Man, It's So Loud In Here (Elegant Too Remix)
14. Ram On
15. The Long Grift
16. Rest Awhile
17. On the Drag
18. Robot Parade (Adult Version)
19. I Am a Human Head
20. Empty Bottle Collector
21. T-Shirt (Instrumental)

Tracks 1-7 released as The Spine Surfs Alone - Idlewild Recordings IDLE 103, 2004
Tracks 8-11 released on Severe Tire Damage - Restless 72965, 1998
Track 12 released on Restless/Fox Music promo CD single RPRO-242, 2001
Track 13 released on Restless promo CD single RPRO-264, 2001
Track 14 released on Listen to What the Man Said (Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney) - Oglio OGL89125, 2001
Track 15 released on Wig in a Box: Songs from and Inspired by Hedwing and The Angry Inch - Off Records 994, 2003
Tracks 16-20 released on Working Undercover for the Man - eMusic (no cat. #), 2000
Track 21 exclusive to this compilation