Crash of the Conchords

I love the Conchords, I really do. Ok maybe I don't keep a cut out of Jermaine's lips in my wallet, or spend much time recreating Bret's helmet hair, but I did watch every episode of  their TV series, twice, and I have obsessively listened to  their entire pre-HBO fame catalogue , to the chagrin of close family and friends.

So it really does not give me any pleasure to rip through 'I told you I was freaky'.



Postives, first the positives.

'I told you I was freaky' has it moments. Some of that Conchord brilliance shines through some of the minimally produced songs. Songs like 'Carol Brown' and 'You don't have to be a prostitute' are perfect examples of FOTC wit: simple, fatally self-depreciating, and follows you around like a stalker with a Masters degree. And it seems the sparer the music is, as in 'Rambling the avenues of time', the better they get.

The other tracks, well, not so much.

 Maybe it's the toll of working back to back seasons of their TV show, maybe it's the sophomore album curse, but it's just not funny. The Non-songs ('Fashion is danger', I'm talking to you) swings from groan-worthy to bland to almost-there and back again, that  you can't help but feel relieved when the end finally comes. Lyrics like 'The angels are doing it' make it almost too painful to listen to at times but like all catastrophes, you just can't turn away.

'I told you I was freaky' is the typical couldabeen album. Musical cameos (Sia, Arj Barker), slicker production values, it could have been, should have been New Zealand's greatest cultural export this year. It's a pity that it turned out to become such a mediocre album.

Asamkat