They Might Be Giants has the most misleading reputation of any band I'm aware of. I don't mean that in the sense of "their lyrics can be really dark, man", but rather, that their sense of whimsy and strangeness leads them to forever be pigeon-holed as Quirky Nerds and very little else. They do seem like dads from a cartoon and they're very happy to make kids albums or be goofy. The misunderstanding, I think, is that they begin and end there.
Like, I think a core bit of context is that is that they came from the New York performance art scene, cause it really suggests the actual sensibilities on display. They've got this rabid love for all types of music dripping from all of their albums, but the goofy coat of paint encourages people to treat it as this novelty that doesn't ask for careful listening.
It's very frustrating to read reviews of TMBG albums because reviewers treat it on a level of like, "this song says 'die', so this is one of their Serious Ones, and this one is silly and reminds me of when they were on TV playing their accordions."
The band's certainly got an interesting relationship with the public. Like, they're so hesitant to reshape a person's interpretation of something, but at the same time, everyone wants to be told a secret code so they can use their decoder rings to solve Wearing A Raincoat and get the True Meaning, and like, I dunno.
Like, there's such hesitance to really embrace the cartoon dads that they're either written off, or given credit in a way that paints them as secret geniuses. There's more there than just shallowness, but at the same time, it's really not like, hidden? I sincerely think Spoiler Alert is just a silly song playing with stereo sound, and I think By the Time You Get This is deeply heartbreaking and beautiful. Both things can be true.
What I think throws folks off is the fact that the band will happily do both of these without treating either like it's "breaking character", so to speak. TMBG is just incredibly eager to make art and are not trying to be anything and I love that.