Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords
Sub Pop
By Justin Porter Stephens
If you haven't caught their show on HBO, Flight of the Conchords are a two-man, self-proclaimed "novelty band" from New Zealand. The duo -- Jermaine Clement andd Bret McKenzie -- approach their comedy differently from most other novelty acts. The parody isn't on a specific song (a la "Weird Al" Yankovic), it's on the genre. For example, the humor of "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenoceros and the Hiphopopotamus)” and "Mutha*uckas" relies on spoofing the absurdities of contemporary hip-hop in general, rather than a few obvious play on words from something off the Billboard Hot 100. Ditto “Think About It” and 1970s, Marvin Gaye-esque soul.
The genius of Clement and McKenzie is how they blur the line between seriousness and their comedy. A quick listen to the opener “Foux du Fafa”, a flirtatious piece of euro pop en français, sounds legit until you pull out your translation dictionary and realize that the two are probably reading out of the same textbook you used in your Intro to French class. Further, “The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)” does such a great job parodying the sort of college-brah-folk that’s made John Mayer famous that this distracted and often oblivious critic was unsure of the band’s intentions when he first heard a live version of the song unintroduced on FM radio last summer until Clement wailed the line, “You’re so beautiful, like a tree, or a high class prostitute” during the song’s closing.
There are a few missteps over the course of the LP though. First, fans of the show will be disappointed that “Bret You’ve Got It Going On”, “If You’re Into It”, and “Cheer Up Murray” have been left off the record (also no Eugene Mirman cameo on “Inner City Pressure”) for the mediocre “Ladies of the World”. In fact, all fourteen of the songs contained on the record made an appearance in the first season of the show, though “Bowie” and “Robots” appear as extended versions.
But ultimately, the album succeeds where most comedy records fail in terms of replay value. This is why Woody Allen’s Standup Comic and Seinfeld’s I'm Telling You for the Last Time appear on iPods and Bad Hair Day does not. Don’t let Clement and McKenzie’s “novelty band” claim fool you; whether they are performing on their television show or on this album, their music reaches a level of enjoyment that’s more than just, ironically enough, novelty.
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