Sub Pop
With the New Zealand duo's eponymous HBO series currently between seasons and its first wide-release full-length album set for April, fans of Flight of the Conchords' unique brand of comedy pop can get their hunger pains sated by "The Distant Future" EP. It's only six tracks long, but what six tracks!
The most obvious comparison one can make is Tenacious D, but I'd argue that the Conchords are funnier, smarter and snappier. As with the D, the music is solid on its own, but the Conchords get by without Jack Black's overreliance on the scatological and the profane.
With come-hither vocals and a funky acoustic beat, "Business Time" is a sly parody of a seduction song' this one obviously of a long-married couple: "Wednesday night is the night we make love / 'Cause everything is just right / Conditions are perfect / There's nothing good on TV."
Even better is the ballad "The Most Beautiful Girl in a Room," full of earnest but backhanded compliments like "You're so beautiful / You could be a part-time model / But you'd probably still have to keep your normal job." Hilarious, heartfelt and harmonious.
"?Rod Lott
