I Told You I Was Freaky

Flight Of The Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky

I remember reading a review of the Flight Of The Conchords' show at the Ryman back in February that commented on how so many of their songs were really salacious slow jams disguised as acoustic ditties. After listening to their second album, I Told You I Was Freaky, it's obvious why... because a lot of the songs they played that night are indeed R&B seductions.

I've been listening to this album without the benefit of having watched the entire second season of their HBO show, so I've been able to judge most of the songs on their own merits, without the context of the show to frame them with. There are some great and hilarious tunes on here, but in general you can definitely tell that a lot of these songs were written for the show, rather than their first album where the show was written around the songs. That shouldn't be interpreted as a knock on the album, just an observation. "Sugalumps" is quite possibly the most hilarious thing I've ever heard, and "Rambling Through The Avenues Of Time" is an absolutely perfect send up of Billy Joel. But a song like "Demon Woman" is probably appreciated more when you've seen the setup that their show provides.

The other obvious influence of the show on this album is in the production. While there are still a few acoustic based tunes, most of these songs have much fuller and much more electronic arrangements than their debut did. For a band that used to bill themselves as New Zeland's fourth most popular folk comedy duo, they sound surprisingly at ease kicking out the electro-jams. As they declare on the opener "Hurt Feelings," "Some people way that we are not rappers. We're rappers." They're also one of the funniest shows on television, which makes their announcement last week that they wouldn't be back for a third season utterly depressing. Here's to hoping they at least keep releasing albums.

Flight Of The Conchords - "Sugalumps" (mp3) from I Told You I Was Freaky