Miss Piggy Lunchbox

Two-and-a-half years ago, when reviewing Permission To Land by The Darkness, I said:

I have been giving some thought lately to what it is about comedic music that relegates it to a lower position on the artistic hierarchy than music whose intentions are sincere. Comedy has a firm entrenchment in theater, film, dance, visual arts, and literature, but for some reason it’s considered the weird stepchild in music. I love “Weird Al” Yankovic (we share a birthday), Spinal Tap, and now The Darkness, but listening to parody music for any purpose besides giggling with friends seems kinda weird. And I can’t figure out why.

Here’s the deal. The comedic genre of music isn’t music, as much as it’s comedy. Of course it is music, and to say otherwise is ridiculous. However, in non-comedic music the entire meaning of the gesture is in the music itself, whereas in comedic music the music is a tool, a prop if you will, that serves the comedic intent. In my mind, they are different art forms. It may be a bold claim, and you could probably write a thesis about it, but I feel reconciled about it finally.

I also feel relieved because now I don’t feel like I have to review these comedic music CDs. I would never think twice about reviewing (or owning, for that matter) a spoken-word comedy CD. It doesn’t stand up to repeated listens in the same way music does. So why should I review a comedy CD that consists of music? Comedy’s not my bag. I like to laugh, sure, but I don’t fancy myself as having any particular insight into funny.

So whether it’s singing a lounge tune in first-year French or making a play on censored rap songs by cutting out every other word, Flight of the Conchords is absolutely hilarious. You’ll find yourself memorizing sections so that you can repeat them with your friends like you did with Napoleon Dynamite. Like, say, “She’s so hot she’s making me sexist,” from “Boom.”

I will add that the music is well done and serves the jokes well. The songs are all faithful to the genre they ape, and the lyrics are so witty that you sometimes wonder if segments of these tunes really could have been successful as straight-up musical numbers. In the hilariously named “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenoceros and the Hiphopopotamus),” for example, there’s a bit where Jemaine introduces his character with the lyrics, “They call me the hiphopopotamus/My lyrics are bottomless/…,” only to be left speechless while you’re left laughing at how nothing rhymes with “hippopotamus.” And just as you’re enjoying the next round of jokes, he comes back and explodes in a flurry of lyrics that really do (nearly) rhyme with hippopotamus done in a flow that many rappers on the radio today would kill for:

They call me the hiphopopotamus
Flows that glow like phosphorous
Poppin’ off the top of this esophagus
Rockin’ this metropolis

Smart, funny s**t that tickles your cranium just right with some good tunes to back everything up. Not a bad way to spend forty-four minutes, but I’m not sure how often I want to spend those minutes that way.

Rating:

Mixers: “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenoceros and the Hiphopopotamus),” “Think About It,” “Mutha’uckas”
Non-keepers: “Ladies Of The World,” “The Prince Of Parties,” “Leggy Blonde,” “A Kiss Is Not A Contract,” “Au Revoir”
Filed Between: Flamenco de Carlos Saura and The Folkscene Collection

Tags: 2008, 3.5 lunchboxes, CD reviews, music

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 8:14 am and is filed under CD reviews, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.