Kiwi Rock’s Comeback Kids

HBO has produced some great shows, ranging from New York gangsters to pretty-boy actors. But none have been more comical than one featuring two New Zealanders with a zest for parody folk rock. Labeling themselves as “formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo,” Kiwi rockers Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie play themselves in their HBO series, a struggling duo in New York City. As the dry humor and excellent comedy rock wowed critics, Sub Pop signed Flight of the Conchords to their label.

Their debut Flight of the Conchords features songs from their television series as well as from their comedy routine. Though Clement and McKenzie’s interesting dance moves aren’t accompanied by their music, the comedy on the album doesn’t miss a beat. They throw away the fart joke humor of other parody rockers Tenacious D. and instead sing about their desires to find women, become rappers, and live peacefully in New York. ‘Mutha’uckas’ expresses their frustration with the city while still censoring themselves, while in ‘Ladies of the World’ Clement and McKenzie show that they are non-discriminating gentlemen when it comes to the opposite sex.

Not only is Flight of the Conchords absolutely hilarious, the music isn’t half bad either. The duo has upped the quality of their work to be more like musicians and less like inept New Zealanders by reworking each track. The guitar work is much tighter than in previous versions, and re-recordings of fan favorites give the tracks new flair. ‘Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocoros’ ditches the synths from the television version and goes for dueling guitars with electric drum lines, making it even more funky than before. Clement’s bass work also improves, going from minimal to 70s groove in tracks like ‘The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)’ and ‘Business Time.’ McKenzie and Clement have successfully made the jump from comedians to musicians — well, comedic musicians.

Amy Dittmeier