The 22 Greatest Two-Person Bands of All Time

How do Meg and Jack stack up against John and John?

Spin, February 22, 2023
by Al Shipley

Conventional wisdom suggests that you need at least three people to start a band. You might require four or five depending on the sound you’re trying to achieve, and a lot more if you want to play ska. Throughout the rock era, only a few intrepid pairs of musicians have gotten together and decided that two was enough to put on a concert. Whether a drummer with a guitarist or keyboardist, two multi-instrumentalists, or a singer with a beatmaker, the greatest duos have shown a myriad of ways to sidestep the need for a larger ensemble.

3. They Might Be Giants

In their first decade together, They Might Be Giants were college radio’s strangest duo. John Flansburgh (guitar) and John Linnell (accordion/keyboard) sang about seemingly anything that came to their minds, be it birdhouses in your soul, exquisite dead guys, or why New York was once New Amsterdam. From their early DIY days debuting new work on a “dial-a-song” hotline up through their first four studio albums, the two Johns made all of TMBG’s music themselves, sharing vocals and programming drum machines. Since 1994’s John Henry, TMBG has expanded to a full band with a rhythm section and sometimes horns, while remaining as odd and prolific as ever.

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