The Musicgoer: Flight of the Conchords' Flight of the Conchords

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
Flight of the Conchords
(Sub Pop)
*** (out of five)

Well, it’s nowhere near as funny as the TV show.

Should I be more constructive with my feedback? Fine: Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie’s HBO sitcom about “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-comedy duo” that would be a minor masterpiece of deadpan comedy even without the dead-on parodies of everything from David Bowie space-rock to breezy ’60s French pop; this disc is merely a collection of funny songs. And there’s no Murray! (Well, okay, there's "Leggy Blonde"... but I want some band meetings, dammit!)

But on its own merits, Flight of the Conchords generates enough chuckles to be worth buying, or at least borrowing it for a few days from your comedy-nerd friend. “Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenocerous,” their most famous track, feels a little stale in this version, but their Pet Shop Boys parody “Inner City Pressure” holds up surprisingly well, as does “Think About It,” which is what What’s Going On might have sounded like if Marvin Gaye were a white guy whose awareness of urban violence was limited to a few dimly remembered episodes of Kojak. And it’s hard to resist a band whose idea of a seductive lyric is “You’re so beautiful, you could be a part-time model.”