Flight of the Conchords' debut really takes off
USA Today
"Flight of the Conchords" by Flight of the Conchords
The temptation in reviewing the first album by this deadpan duo from New Zealand is to quote endlessly from the wealth of lethal one-liners lurking like land mines in the midst of seemingly serious songs.
Tracks such as "Inner City Pressure" and "Business Time" — the seduction song to end all seduction songs — are so skillfully constructed along the lines of their '70s/'80s models (Barry White, Prince) that they almost suck you in.
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie also parody hip-hop, '60s psychedelia and (most devastatingly) David Bowie while conjuring a near-future dystopia in which robots have destroyed humans and are left with a few clumsy dance moves.
"A Kiss Is Not a Contract" is a much-needed contribution to the underpopulated genre of male chastity songs. Most parody/ comedy records wear out their welcome quickly. This one — even though fans have seen the songs performed on the duo's HBO series — may be an exception, because you'll want to play it for everyone you know.
— Ken Barnes
"Bittersweet World" by Ashlee Simpson
With this collection of bouncy, banal homages to the '80s, Simpson proves she can do more than generically angsty, post-Avril Lavigne girl-pop. She can also crank out generically blithe, pre-Avril Lavigne girl-pop.
Aided by Timbaland, The Neptunes' Chad Hugo and others, the famous little sister channels Debbie Harry, Madonna and Toni Basil about as well as any girl who could afford the help. But if someone with so little perceptible personality or presence can sustain the media's rapt attention, whose fault is that — hers or ours?
— Elysa Gardner
