There are many common pitfalls for comedy acts; Weird Al Yankovich is too in-your-face irritating, The Mighty Boosh are too bizarre, and The Kooks are just one big joke. Fusing comedy with music is a fine art and it is often easy to become a novelty, take the money, and wander down the path of obscurity. ‘New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo’ Flight Of The Conchords however are a lesson in how to do it the right way. Taking songs from their award-winning musical sitcom of the same name, Bret Mckenzie and Jemaine Clement have created an album of hilarious parodies.
From sixties psychedelia to future sounds, Marvin Gaye to Prince, and early Bowie to late Bowie; music from across the decades receives a Conchords makeover. Bret and Jemaine have mastered the art of parody and infuse their own style of comedy into almost flawless interpretations. The duo’s intelligent lyrics demonstrates their sharp observational skills, “theres nothing on tv…perfect conditions for making love” (Business Time), and their observant understanding of genre stereotypes, for example ‘Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros’s misogynistic but repentant rap “sometimes my lyrics are sexist, but you lovely bitches know, should know I’m trying to correct this”.
The album is jam-packed with laugh-out-loud lines, but to get the full Bret and Jemaine experience you need to see the facial expressions, the context, and the spoof music videos. Unlike Tenacious D, who are adequate musically in their own right, the Conchords don’t quite have the tunes, musically speaking, to merit just audio. A solid album overall; consistently funny and subtle enough to want to listen again, but save your money and watch it on Youtube.