Doubleshot Tuesday: Gorilla/Flight Of The Conchords

[Today: A guy walks into a bar with a record player under his arm...]

In a classic bit on his late show, David Letterman invited his studio audience to decide – through applause – whether they’d prefer to hear an elderly woman recite her poetry, or watch a fat man jump into a hammock full of eggs. I love rock & roll, but sometimes it starts to sound like a bunch of uber-serious, blue-haired poets. When I need a smile, I have a few reliable standbys in the record collection, including The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s Gorilla, from 1967, and Flight Of The Conchords’ self-titled debut from last year.

These albums represent two different types of humor, but both hammer the funny bone time and again. Gorilla is a swinging 60′s artifact, full of British humor that’s both zany and dry. ‘The Intro & The Outro’ introduces an imaginary extended band, featuring Adolph Hitler on vibes and Roy Rogers on Trigger, among dozens of others. It matters little that half the references here have been lost to the mists of time – the song splits the difference between Looney Tunes and Monty Python, and is a winner in spite of its cultural cobwebs. Much the same could be said of the rest of the album – ‘Cool Brittannia’ should have been Austin Powers’ theme, ‘Jollity Farm’ imagines a place where “everything’s a perfect treat” and all the animals sing and dance. Meanwhile, ‘Death Cab For Cutie’ is sung in a faux-Elvis croon, and provided one indie band with a name.

No musical genre seems safe from parody by the New Zealand duo Flight Of The Conchords. Hip-Hop, French pop, overwrought folk, steamy R&B – and all points between – get skewered here. ‘Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros’ takes the swagger out of hip-hop battles by pitting jungle creatures in an epic verbal showdown. ‘Robots’ mocks Kraftwerk while imagining a world taken over by dancing robots. In three minutes and change, ‘Bowie’ sums up the entire career of the man who brought you Ziggy Stardust, and ‘Boom’ might be the greatest dancehall reggae track in existence – if only because it’s intentionally dumbed down and repetitive. Think of Flight Of The Conchords and Gorilla as a pair of fat guys, eagerly waiting to jump into that hammock full of eggs for your amusement…

Listen: Cool Brittannia [Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band]

Listen: Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros [Flight Of The Conchords]

Listen: The Intro And The Outro [Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band]

Listen: The Prince Of Parties [Flight Of The Conchords]

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Tags: Bonzo Dog Doodah Band, David Letterman, debut album, fat guy jumping into a hammock full of eggs, Flight Of The Conchords, Gorilla