They Might Be Giants take us back to school

Perennial goofballs They Might Be Giants have decided it’s time for a follow up to Here Come the ABCs, their kid-friendly CD/DVD ode to the alphabet. This time, they’re paying tribute to numbers with Here Come the 123s. Yes, this means that their unholy alliance with the Disney corporation is alive and well, but what are you gonna do? You can preview a couple of the tracks on their MySpace page (I really like the old school groove of “One Dozen Monkeys”).

Like the previous album, this collection is also available as a DVD with a cute little video for every track (which would be where the Disney money comes in handy, I guess). If you just can’t wait to see the videos, you can check out some of them in the new TMBG’s Friday Night Video Podcast for Families, where you get to see one of the new tracks (like the super-gleeful pop-punk of “Eight Hundred and Thirteen Mile Car Trip”) coupled up with one of the ABC tracks.

In line with their family-friendly focus, TMBG are pulling a few double-stops on their current tour, doing a family matinee before the adult-only evening performance (”The late show gets a little blue.”)

Though it remains to be seen if these numberically-themed ditties will stand the test of time as well as the School House Rock collection has (which really would be asking a lot, wouldn’t it?), cooler parents everywhere can breathe a collective sigh of relief that at least there’s something else to expose their kids to that’s way less insipid than Barney.

Search for songs by They Might Be Giants on iTunes