Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand based comedy-band, describing itself as “Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo,” of which its two members are Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Originally creating a name for themselves through their hybrid concert/stand-up-comedy routines, Bret and Jemaine have surfaced state side with a self-entitled HBO television show that just received confirmation of a second season. Their humor is reminiscent of the occasionally awkward dead-pan of The Office, mixed with random and equally hilarious musical numbers not entirely dissimilar to The Mighty Boosh. Provided that you know and enjoy both of those shows, I can say with certainty that you’ll get a kick out of Flight of the Conchords; if you don’t, you’ll probably like them anyway. At least, one would hope.

One of the defining characteristics about Flight of the Conchords is how unconventional their material is; the song given above is called “Jenny” and it’s essentially a conversation between a guy who can’t remember a girl he met at a party and said girl, only it’s set to music with hilarious comedic timing and delivery. They have another little diddy called “The Humans are Dead” in which they emulate robot voices and talk about a distant future in which robots rule the world. And even if the subject matter could be defined as generic (like having a song about sex or meeting a pretty girl) the lyrics and performance are such that it makes the music hilarious rather than stereotypical, as is true in the case of “Business Time”:

Their TV show is the same sort of humor, obviously, but in addition to the songs there’s the added plus of Jemaine and Bret’s interactions with one another, and with other reoccurring characters such as their vaguely idiotic “manager” whose actual job is working at the New Zealand embassy and their one eerily obsessive fan who frequently sexually propositions them despite the fact that she has a husband. Throughout the show, Jemaine and Bret work through feelings of inadequacy, chasing after a woman named Sally simultaneously, and ostracizing Bret’s girlfriend on the completely unfounded basis that she will break up their band in a Yoko Ono-esque manner. And of course, on each occasion, hilarity ensues.