Flight of the Conchords Distant Future

For anyone not familiar with "New Zealand's 4th most popular musical parody duo" from their stand up or HBO show, it's time to get acquainted. Leave it to the (other) folks down under to come up with a kinder, gentler Tenacious D, dropping the bitterly funny, "destined for greatness" pose and instead adopting an unassuming, "we're sexy despite ourselves" stance. Jermaine and Bret are losers on a scale commensurate with their American counterparts, but like them, they are given almost magical powers by the music they play, or perhaps channel. In the case of the Conchords, it's not the power of Metal that drives them, it's mostly a desire to be funky, sex machines, despite a complete lack of game once the music stops. Even in their songs they can't seem to say the right things while they are moaning and grooving in all the right places. It's this juxtaposition that makes their show required viewing.

Take the first song on the ep, Business Time, which mainly consists of Jermaine convincing himself that his girlfriend's desire to get to sleep early or finish up the dishes is really an invitation for some old school lovemaking. He works himself into a slow-groove frenzy without any seeming encouragement from the object of his affections. It's the guileless cockiness of it all that's so charming. This endearing humility gets taken further on If You're Into It, in which Bret promises to "take off all my clothes for you…if that's what you're into". And then on the next tune, when the inevitable heartache comes, the mates wail in unison "I'm Not Cryin'!!!" No, they're just cutting onions. This is great stuff; funny, endearing, original, and almost exotic to jaded, irony-deaf, American ears. The set ends with another of the Conchords' odd obsessions - Robots, set in the "distant future, the year 2000".

If you haven't seen them on HBO you need to proceed directly to youtube and start streaming because just as you miss something essential with Jack Black on record, you also must see the unassuming, clueless looks on these guys' faces to really get the gag. Still, this ep is a great primer for the hilarious album that's sure to follow.