Artists like They Might Be Giants

John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, and a co-founder of alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwriting, he plays keyboard, accordion, baritone and bass saxophone, and clarinet for the band.

Self is an American pop rock band formed in 1993 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The band is led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Mahaffey, additionally consisting of keyboardist Chris James, bassist Mac Burrus, and drummer Jason Rawlings. Former members include guitarist Mike Mahaffey and touring bassist Tim Nobles. The group began as a duo on Spongebath Records with the Mahaffey brothers, immediately picked up by Zoo Entertainment to release their debut album, Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995). It sold over 40,000 copies in its first two years with support from the singles "Cannon" and "So Low". After expanding the lineup for live performances, the band embraced an experimental approach with The Half-Baked Serenade (1997), followed by a compilation of demos, Feels Like Breakin' Shit (1998).

Ben Folds Five is an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group is composed of Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee. The group achieved success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. Their single "Brick" from the second album, Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.

Tally Hall is an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 2002, and publicly active until the conclusion of their Good & Evil tour in 2011. The band's current line-up consists of guitarists Joe Hawley and Rob Cantor, bassist Zubin Sedghi, keyboardist Andrew Horowitz and drummer Ross Federman. The band is known for its eclectic musical style, extensive use of vocal harmonies, and matching outfits featuring white button up shirts, colored neckties, and after 2008, black vests. The members originally described their musical style as "wonky rock", later redefining their sound as "fabloo", to not let any particular genres define their music after critics began defining the characteristics of "wonky rock".

Benjamin Scott Folds is an American singer-songwriter. After playing in several small independent bands from the late 1980s through the early '90s, Folds came to prominence as the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000, and again during their reunion from 2011 to 2013. Folds has recorded a number of solo albums, most recently Sleigher (2024). He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic and yMusic, and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. Folds was the artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. from 2017 until 2025.

Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California, in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk, folk, alternative, country, and world music, among other genres. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk scene of California's Inland Empire and then found wider acceptance and, eventually, an international audience. Their strong iconoclasm and emphasis on do-it-yourself values proved influential to the burgeoning indie rock movement.

Soul Coughing is an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty, keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. They garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey of AllMusic described the band as "One of the most unique cult bands of the '90s. Driven by frontman M. Doughty's stream-of-consciousness poetry, Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip-hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism". Doughty described the band's sound as "deep slacker jazz". The group broke up in 2000.

King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 humorous single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986.

Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, known professionally as Black Francis and formerly Frank Black, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who is the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career releasing fifteen albums and forming his band, the Catholics. Pixies regrouped in 2004, and he declared his solo career to be over in 2013.

Guster is an American alternative rock band formed in Somerville, Massachusetts. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University and formed the band in 1991. The members met during the freshman Wilderness Orientation program in August of that year, playing publicly together as a trio two months later at the Midnight Cafe coffee house in the common area of the Lewis Hall dormitory. While attending Tufts, the band lived at 139 College Avenue in Somerville.

Electric Six is an American rock band formed in Detroit in 1996. They are known for combining elements of rock, disco, garage rock, metal, new wave, and punk rock. Since achieving widespread recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", they have released 20 studio albums, two rarities albums, one live album and one live DVD. Each band member is given a unique stage name. The line-up has undergone changes over the years: co-founder, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Dick Valentine has been the only constant member. The current line-up consists of Valentine, lead guitarist Johnny Na$hinal, keyboardist Tait Nucleus?, rhythm guitarist Herb S. Flavourings, drummer Dr. Jay and bassist Mr. Poison.