AllMusic describes Flight of the Conchords as “New Zealand’s self-proclaimed ‘fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo,’ (who) became international stars in the 2000s thanks to a successful television series that fictionalized their exploits. Formed by actors, comedians, and musicians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, FotC were the rare comedy band whose music was often as celebrated as their gags. Their songs fused witty lyrics with music that often parodied various artists and genres.”
The title track to the 2009 album I Told You I Was Freaky strays a long distance from the duo’s early days of acoustic self-accompaniment: an electronics-driven absurdist funk romp which lands somewhere near the stylistic confluence of Prince, Cameo, and George Clinton. Starting in G major for the intro, the verse transitions to a static G7 chord with a flexible “blue note” third degree at 0:18; at 0:53, the chorus transitions to Ab minor, then back to G7 at 1:11 for the next verse. At 2:05, the percussion drops out to bring us a hushed bridge in A major; 2:34 returns to G7 for a rap outro.
The shorter version included in the TV show lacks the rap outro, but gives an idea of the series’ fearlessly eccentric visual style.
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