"The most beautiful girl I have ever seen with a kebab" (Distant Future E.P - Flight of the Conchords)

Member Name: ms_memory

Product:	Distant Future E.P - Flight of the Conchords
Date:	04/01/09 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quirky, funny, musically inventive Grammy-award-winning EP

Disadvantages: Too short!

I bought this CD after having seen a few episodes of the Flight of the Conchords HBO TV show, which follows the fate of Brett McKenzie and Jermaine Clement (aka FOTC, New Zealand's 4th most popular folk-parody duo), and their quest to make it big in the US. The programme charts their efforts, interspersed with songs, most of which are parodies of different musical genres. Watching the series, I was so impressed by their music that I bought the EP as soon as I discovered it on Amazon. There is also a longer FOTC album, but I wasn't sure whether the songs would be as good without the accompanying videos from the TV show, so decided to go for the EP first.


Brett and Jermaine portray themselves as inept, gauche desperadoes from the sticks, with dodgy fashion sense, a (seemingly) complete lack of irony and very limited success with the ladies, and this is where they derive most of their humour from. Added to that is the parodic nature of their songs, in which they gently mock instantly recognisable genres or even individual artists (e.g. they do a David Bowie parody where they mimic his voice and poke fun of his whole 'persona'). FOTC are also extremely talented singers and musicians - proven by the fact that this selection of live and studio tracks won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2008.


Tracks


BUSINESS TIME This sees Jermaine in Barry White mode as he tells of how he and his long-term girlfriend make "sweet weekly love", which he goes on to coyly refer to as "business". Thanks to his misinterpretation of all of her signals ("You whisper something sexy like 'Is that it?' I know what you're trying to say girl, you're trying to say 'Oh yeah, that's it'") Jermaine quickly drifts off to sleep content: "Business hours are over, baby". Throughout the track he expertly switches between New Zealand whine and throaty American drawl as well as meowing, squealing and growling while Brett strums along and joins in with the funk-inspired chorus.


IF YOU'RE INTO IT This time it's Brett's turn to try to woo a new lady - with a gentle folk song. He makes suggestions based on the few facts he has at his disposal: she likes food and has a male flatmate. Brett starts of shyly but quickly gets more daring, with Jermaine providing some deep-voiced encouragement to the lady to consider Brett's increasingly rude ideas. Jermaine also accompanies his band mate on several instruments including a tinkly mini-piano.


I'M NOT CRYING Brett goes to great lengths in this soulful guitar-based ballad to explain that he is NOT weeping because his woman has left him: it's been raining on his face, he's been chopping onions and he's also worried about someone she doesn't know who is dying. He fools no-one.


THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE ROOM (Live) At a party Jermaine makes a beeline for the most good-looking girl and makes up a love song for her: "you're so beautiful...like nice ceramics or something". He showers her with compliments, suggesting she possesses enough beauty to find work as a part-time model or even a high-class prostitute, before making her an offer she can't refuse: "Let's get in a cab... I'll buy you a kebab".


BANTER (Live) A recording (or "a professional version of talking") from one of FOTC's stand-up shows in NYC, in which they reveal what their New Zealand audiences like, including the famous 'bank joke'. There are lots of deadpan sheep puns, and if this is all scripted, then the guys have a 'ewe-mungous' knack for making it seem - at least partly - improvised.


ROBOTS (live) The track from which the EP takes its title. The song is set in the distant future: the year 2000. They wrote it a while back, explains Brett, and were looking to corner a new market in a future world where all humans were wiped out by a "robotic uprising". This is the track that best conveys the duo's energy, musical and comedic talent and songwriting skills. Brett and Jermaine really play up to their geeky image here - what other song has an IT-inspired binary solo and sci-fi laser guns? They also switch genres several times, with cheeky digs at Radiohead's OK Computer and US college rock... until their power supply runs out at the end.

Summary: I'll be purchasing their album in the not-too-distant future