Rocking with Laughter ; Flight of the Conchords Are Part of a Trend That Proves It's Possible to Make a Comedy Song You Can Listen to More Than Once Sound Check

Evening Standard - London › November 06, 2009

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Summary

THE long tradition of musical comedy that includes Gilbert and Sullivan, George Formby, The Rutles and Spinal Tap is something to cherish. However, when a comic song enters the pop charts and sits alongside its sensible peers, it starts to look like the Monster Raving Loony candidate at a by-election -- a colourful novelty to amuse briefly and then be ignored.

That won't be the case when I Told You I Was Freaky by Flight of the Conchords hits the albums chart on Sunday. The New Zealand duo, who are well known for their HBO TV series, are leading the trend for comedian songwriters who wish to prove that their work doesn't have to be like one of those washing machines that is also a tumble dryer: doing two things only partly effectively instead of one thing well.

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Extract

Rocking with Laughter ; Flight of the Conchords Are Part of a Trend That Proves It's Possible to Make a Comedy Song You Can Listen to More Than Once Sound Check

In the show, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement play versions of themselves who are perpetually unlucky in every aspect of their lives. As Kiwi musicians in New York with just one fan, they hobble from empty gigs to failed relationships with bemusement etched on the...

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