Flight Of The Conchords: I Told You I Was Freaky

After an absolutely flawless first series, the 'fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo-a capella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo' known to most as Flight Of The Conchords (or simply FOTC) officially announced that they had run out of ideas.

The duo toured relentlessly before the first series of their HBO-released, highly-acclaimed self-titled TV programme began to air and so of course, it was easy to incorporate all of their previously created, tightly knit comedy songs into the episodes plot-lines.

However, as HBO pushed for another season and their name spread to almost every corner of the planet, Jermaine Clement and Brett Mckenzie opened up about the struggle to write new songs quicker than they had ever done before. Once Season two was completed and aired, the struggle was almost immediately noticeable in both plot and songs. It was still funnier than 90% of any other satirical shows out there but it just didn't live up to expectations. And so here we have studio album number two, released on the Sub Pop label just one year after their début self-titled effort and filled with thirteen full tracks, all taken from the second season of the television series and all disappointing in their own way.

Now, on with the actual album review.

First and foremost, it's important to note that we, at Strange Glue, are huge fans of the twosome. Many a late night drinking session has been fuelled by rambling attempts to perform Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros. Their subtle, classically New Zealand humour is some of the best on stage and TV and both members of the band are wildly talented in their own unique way. The first season of the show was like nothing you'd seen before (even if the whole 'two guys in a house' concept has been bludgeoned to death of late) and presented the audience with some of the driest, most sarcastic and down-played comedy genius TV could create.

The problem then, lays mostly within season two's disappointing struggle and the songs that came from that. The episodes were still brilliant no doubt, but there was something lacking in the songs, something that their previous material didn't show once. 

Track number one Hurt Feelings successfully throws you back into the mood of watching the both of them on screen but it's here that we find the main problem. Go now and search YouTube for all of their older, live music material (, and if you're the lazy type) and you'll see how superior and funnier they were when it wasn't music made for TV in the first place. It was made for live audiences and on stage which we're beginning to feel is how it should've stayed. "I make a meal for my friends, try to make it delicious, try to keep in nutritious, create wonderful dishes, not one of them thinks about the way i feel, nobody compliments the meal" sings Clement on the first verse before continuing throughout the chorus "I feel like a prize asshole, no one even mentions my casserole. You could'a said something nice about my profiteroles." Yes it's funny and yes just hearing Clements vocals again are enough to bring a smile to the most hardened of of faces but compared to the clever, cohesive brilliance of say, Bret You Got It Going On or Most Beautiful Girl In The Room, it just seems derivative and a little washed up. It also begins to grate after only a few plays, which, regrettably, can be said for a whole handful of the songs on here.

The real highlight comes in the form of the R.Kelly/Usher 'Same Girl' parody We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady; a two-man story of falling in love with the same woman (a lazy eyed woman at that, with an epileptic dog and a name that the two can't decide on). "Was her name Brabra?" asks Brett, "No i think it was Barbara" replies Jermaine. "Her name was Brabra" retorts Brett, "It was Barbara there's no such name as Brabra" Jermaine spits back quickly. It's funny, really funny, but without the scene to go with it, it does sound a little hollow almost. It's almost as if they wrote the song for the scene instead of the other way round (which always worked better). Admittedly, Friends comes close too and sounds great even without the visual stimulation. "If you trip over i'll catch your fall, if you kick my dick, i wont break your balls". That's a true friend.

Other songs that were written before the first season were included too; the drunken, Russian, cannibals-on-a-boat ditty Petrov, Yelyena And Me and L.P finalé Angels. Both are nice additions (even if Angels is probably their most immature song to date) but they don't particularly hold up to their best work ("Bowies innnn sppaccee"). Others come in the form of the overplayed, underwhelming but stupidly funny Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor), the forgetful electro-glam homage Fashion Is Danger (although Bretts "Posing a threat!" is just a little bit brilliant) and Demon Womans pseudo-power-rock appeal. None are brilliant but at the end of the day...it's Flight Of The Conchords so it's always just a little bit worth it.

Genre parodies, throwbacks to the duo's favourite artists and their typically comic style should add up to something more than what's on offer here. If you're a FOTC fan then yes, buy it for the sake of a few genuine laughs along the way but be warned; it's probably the worst thing they've created. Sure it's better than some of the rubbish out there but in comparison to their earlier comedic ventures, it just seems like too much of a middling effort from two fantastically talented and funny artists.

Now, to leave you with something nostalgic.