Flight Of The Conchords – Flight Of The Conchords

• 28th Jun 2008

The Debut Album from New Zealand duo, Flight of the Conchords, will probably not be many peoples first experience of the band.

I was introduced to the HBO produced comedy series of the same name by a friend who had already been taken in by the irreverent deadpan humour, cardboard acting and the musical parodies that are peppered throughout the episodes.

A fifteen track collection of re-recorded and expanded ditties from the show has now been released to capitalise on the cult following the series has spawned and the word of mouth that has continued to grow. Targeted within the 42 minute running time are Serge Gainsbourg, Prince, The Beatles, Pet Shop Boys and David Bowie, amongst a whole host of others that face a ribbing through the clever and witty, tongue-in-cheek homages that make for a truly diverse album, flitting between genres with ease, even taking in un-likely hip hop and dancehall parodies.

The true test of the album is how well it manages to stand alone from its counterpart series, which I have not had a chance to view in its entirety, the tracks that I am already familiar with are the easiest to appreciate but repeat listens throw up extra insight and the comedy of the tracks manage to speak for themselves if you are aware of the musical references being made. How it will be perceived by an outsider with no concept of the show that spawned it is not for me to say but while hordes of fans wait for a second season to be completed, this album stands as a solid testament of Flight of the Conchords popularity and skewed humour.