PHOTO | Album - Sub Pop
Like their previous releases, Flight of the Conchords’ new CD, “I Told You I Was Freaky,” is more of a soundtrack to their self-titled HBO comedy show than a stand-alone album.
For fans of the New Zealand comedy folk duo’s show, each track brings to mind the hilarious television segments/music videos.
For new listeners, songs such as the synthesizer laden “Fashion is Danger” may lack some of the comedic impact without the 1980s “New Wave” visuals.
But the cleverness of the duo (Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) is evident in their offbeat lyrics and creative takes on many forms of popular music.
As the second season of the show didn’t quite live up to the first, the same can be said of this album. Not quite the gem of its predecessor, but still worth the money.
The thirteen tracks offered are mostly strong. The title track features Bret’s attempt at “freakiness” to impress a prospective girlfriend.
“Rambling Through the Avenues of Time” finds Bret wistfully recalling an idealized afternoon with a mysterious woman while Jemaine drops skeptical comments.
Bret: She looked like a Parisian river…
Jemaine: What, dirty?
Bret: She looked like a chocolate éclair…
Jemaine: That’s rare.
“Petrov, Yelyena and Me” is the story of three Russian sailors lost at sea, with two of them seeing the third as food. Bret uses a reggae beat to steer Jemaine from a life as a male gigolo in “You Don’t Have to Be a Prostitute.”
Jemaine has two of the albums’ other highlights. “Carol Brown” recounts his failed relationships (“Carol Brown just took a bus out of town, but I’m hoping that you’ll stick around”).
“Too Many D**ks on the Dance Floor” is about the desperate guys who scare away all the women from the night club scene (“Goin’ to a party, sippin’ on Bacardi, wanna meet a hottie, but there’s Adam, Steve and Marty”).
Unfortunately, like previous albums, the negative lies in what is left out. The Conchords are building quite a stable of good songs that for some reason or another appear on the show but not on disc, including the charity song for epileptic dogs and the swashbuckling ballad “Love is a Weapon of Choice.”
For fans that like to buy songs from iTunes, the previously unreleased “Pencils in the Wind,” where the boys compare love to office supplies, is now available. Maybe the overlooked tracks from this new season will be available as downloads in the future, as well.
Since the Conchords came to the attention of American audiences, they’ve been constantly touring, recording in the studio or filming their HBO series. With a well-earned rest, this may be their last output for a while. Fortunately, the appeal of their material goes beyond the comedic; the songs are catchy enough to justify a prominent place on their fans’ iPods.