They Might Be Giant's co-founder John Flansbugh readily admits that the band's upcoming retrospective, "Severe Tire Damage," isn't quite your typical "Best-Of" package.

"Instead of a collection of hit singles, as if we really had any, we instead tried to focus on songs that have gotten better through their performance," Flansburgh told MTV News from a studio where he's editing the video for "Doctor Worm," the first single from "Damage." "To be honest, there are a bunch of songs of ours that I feel we did too early. Listening to the tapes, I became aware that it was the first time that some of these songs had been completely realized."

Comprised of 3 new studio tracks and 21 live tracks taken from TMBG radio shows -- including a 7-song cycle dedicated to a certain '70s simian sci-fi film series (Planet of the Apes), "Severe Tire Damage," which will be released on August 11, finds the band exploring new avenues of eclecticism.

"There's a couple of spontaneous songs included on the album," Flansburgh said, "a lot of things that just originated in the moment, during the shows. Not all good, not all bad. Which, to me, is as live as live can get."

In September, TMBG will bring its innovative Dial-A-Song project to the internet. Originally started as a means to spread its music without radio support, fans could call the answering service and hear a previously unreleased TMBG song.

The site, which will be located at www.dialasong.com, will be modeled after the successful phone service, and will feature a different song every hour and a new song every day.

They Might Be Giants is also continuing its attempt to develop a children's program, and has reviewed several proposals, none of which the band has particularly cared for. "We want the show to have the real spirit of the band," Flansburgh said, "instead of just renting it from us."

TMBG will kick off a small club tour in August before launching a national tour in October. The band hopes to start work on a new studio record in November or December for a mid-1999 release.