Good on ya mate!!
New Zealand's self-proclaimed "4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" has a deadpan, Spinal Tap-influenced approach to music and comedy. Their 2007 HBO series featured Brett and Jermaine as two hapless and inept foreigners trying to make it as musicians in New York. In their music video fantasies they are rock stars and their self titled debut album features most of those songs. Their clueless self-deprecation is both refreshingly inoffensive and infectious.
The songs are not straight up parodies ala Weird Al but more like send ups of music genres. "Foux Du Fafa" has them trying out every known French phrase by people who don't know any French ("soup du jour...baguette...Jacques Cousteau!") over a Serge Gainsbourg-style bossa nova lounge beat. Their mimicry of Hip Hop and Disco music are wickedly, laugh out loud funny. Jermaine raps "my name is hiphopapotamus, my lyrics are bottomless..." before running out of words and "Mutha'uckas" is explicit but self censored so only the non-curse words can be made out ("mango!") Don't miss the binary solo in "Robots" ("zerozerozeroonezerozerooneonezero...") and their almost- too-much-like-Bowie song, "Bowie." We find out in "Business Time" what Barry White would sound like if he was from New Zealand.
Flight of the Conchords' novelty takes a while to wear thin because the songs are so packed with what you might call single entendres that it takes quite a few listens to catch them all. They are much too sharp musically to be called simple comedy and too insipid to be taken seriously as music It's surprising how well the music stands up without the videos but, if you haven’t already, you’ll find yourself checking them out on DVD or you -tube after hearing this hilarious cd. It will have to do for now. Because of the writer’s strike, season two is now scheduled for early 2009.
Listen for songs from Flight of the Conchords' album, Flight of the Conchords all this week on Paul Shugrue’s new music show “Out of the Box” on Hampton Roads public radio 89.5 WHRV Mon. through Thurs. from 7 to 9 p.m., Sat. afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. and on-demand at www.whrv.org/outofthebox.