In honor of this week's Comedy Issue, here’s a look at some superb musicians who infuse their lyrics with a healthy dose of satire, humor and absurdity. For a look at the other side of the coin — comedians who use music in their performances — click here.
Frank Zappa Rock satire’s ostensible godfather was a singularly eccentric prog-rock genius who mocked the government, religion, conformity, censorship, human sexuality, greed, the music industry, pop culture and more on nearly 100 albums, his relentless vigor and clever derision sometimes transforming into grotesque, disdain-filled parody. Key tracks: “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” “Valley Girl,” “Willie the Pimp,” “Magdalena,” “Cock-Suckers’ Ball,” “Muffin Man,” “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama”
They Might Be Giants A few clever Johns — Flansburgh and Linnell — have been mining unconventional themes with a nerdy-brainy twist over 17 albums and nearly three decades, from the usual aging, death and relationship fare to odes that play around with grammar, science, history, science fiction and anthropomorphism. TMBG lands at State Theatre on April 5, 2016. Key tracks: “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” “Mammal,” “Particle Man,” “I Palindrome I,” “Fingertips,” “Dinner Bell,” “The Statue Got Me High,” “Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go to Work)”
MC Chris A nerdcore fave who got his start on Adult Swim, MC Chris has helium-high vocals and songs that combine his geeky loves (Star Wars, Ghostbusters, wizards, junk food, video games, et. al) with the hard guise of a typical hip-hop artist. Key tracks: “Fett’s Vette,” “Emo Party,” “Geek,” “Hoodie Ninja,” “Pizza Butt,” “Nrrd Grrl,” “I Heart Drugs”
Flight of the Conchords “The almost award-winning fourth-most-popular folk duo in New Zealand” began as a comedy band, and though Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie only released a few albums after their BBC Radio Series and subsequent, similar HBO show before going on a three-year hiatus, they’ve since reassembled and are in the midst of writing a Flight of the Conchords movie. Key tracks: “It’s Business Time,” “The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room,” “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros,” “Bowie’s In Space”
Lil Dicky A copywriter turned rapper/comedian whose video ode to self-doubt, “Ex Girlfriend,” earned more than 1 million YouTube views in a single day. David Burd’s debut as Lil Dicky, Professional Rapper, came this summer, its title track structured like a job interview with Snoop Dogg that finds Dicky cleverly listing the skills, goals and desires that qualify him for a job in the rap game. More key tracks: “Save Dat Money,” “Classic Male Pregame,” “White Crime”
Professor Elemental/Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer Two of the most well-known names practicing a little-known hip-hop subgenre out of England called “Chap Hop”: essentially, proper British blokes with a penchant for steampunk and tweed waxing cheekily on the obsessions of high society (cricket, tea, the weather). Elemental and Mr. B were engaged in a polite feud up until 2012, squashing in a jolly good rap battle, “The Duel,” that concludes with them sharing a crate of sherry and some opium. Key tracks: “Fighting Trousers,” “Cup of Brown Joy” (Professor Elemental); “Chap-Hop History,” “Straight Out Of Surrey” (Mr. B)
Tenacious D Spawned from an HBO series that followed the fictional escapades of a struggling acoustic guitar-wielding duo (Jack Black and Kyle Gass), the self-proclaimed “best rock ’n’ roll band on earth” eventually recorded the story-song material they’d created for a well-regarded 2001 release. Sophomore follow-up rock opera/film soundtrack The Pick of Destiny essentially bombed, though 2012’s Rize of the Fenix proved a comeback and showed that Black and Gass still had plenty of tuneful humor left in them. Key tracks: “Tribute,” “Fuck Her Gently,” “The Government Totally Sucks,” “The Metal,” “Deth Star”
Ween Listening to Ween, you might assume the fellows behind it are idiot savants, not only because of their silly lyrics, but also due to the thematic instrumentals. Alt-rock absurdists Gene and Dean Ween (Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, Jr.) produced an extensive catalog in the three decades they were active, including an infamously rejected Pizza Hut jingle — “Where’d the Cheese Go?” — subsequently re-imagined as “Bitch, Where’d The Mother Fuckin’ Cheese Go At?” Key tracks: “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down),” “Bananas and Blow,” “Pollo Asado,” “Ocean Man,” “Touch My Tooter,” “Big Fat Fuck”
The Lonely Island The off-color comedy trio that parodies aspects of hip-hop was famously featured on SNL with songs like “Dick in a Box” and “I’m on a Boat,” their fame further fueled by A-list celeb guests that have appeared on all three of their LPs — Justin Timberlake, T-Pain, Norah Jones, Beck, Michael Bolton, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams and Lady Gaga among them. More key tracks: “Jizz in My Pants,” “I Just Had Sex,” “Jack Sparrow,” “YOLO,” “I Fucked My Aunt,” “3-Way (The Golden Rule)”
A playlist featuring all of these artists included below for your listening pleasure...
https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify%3Auser%3Aleilanipolk%3Aplaylist%3A32rkClzpWASfabkGXz3bki
