Reviews

Kiwi Flavor

New Zealand is making some noise in the entertainment world. If you haven’t heard of the Brunettes, give them a listen. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviews these two New Zealand CDs released this week.

Kiwi flavor

New Zealand acts deliver some Flight-y fun from down under
BY PRESTON JONES
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Flight of the Conchords, “Part-Time Model”
The Brunettes, “If You Were Alien”
Kiwi flavor
Each week, Flight of the Conchords, the new HBO comedy series focused on New Zealand’s fourth most popular “digi-folk” duo twists and turns in ever more bizarre and genuinely amusing directions.

Recent episodes have included slavish David Bowie tributes and uncanny re-creations of low-budget ’80s music videos — given the show’s defiantly left-field sensibility, it’s astonishing that such idiosyncratic TV has caught on, not only with critics, but also viewers. Buzz is building about the Kiwi pair of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, otherwise known as Flight of the Conchords; that buzz will only intensify once fans of the show get their hands on The Distant Future EP and begin subjecting the unfamiliar to repeated plays of instant classics such as I’m Not Crying and Business Time.

An ingeniously timed release — it feeds growing interest about the show and whets appetites for a Conchords record, due in 2008 — this six-track collection features a handful of live cuts, showcasing the duo’s knack for twisting even the most mundane situation (between-song banter) into surreal hilarity. As it’s only an EP,The Distant Future is over much too soon; fortunately, it’s a tantalizing promise of things to come.

Fellow New Zealanders the Brunettes are even more under the radar than their Conchord brethren — on the strength of 2004’s Mars Loves Venus (and its clarinet-fueled gem These Things Take Time), the twee-pop pair of Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield landed on Sub Pop Records for their proper Stateside debut, Structures & Cosmetics. The aura of Phil Spector haunts B-A-B-Y; that retro feel is seamlessly blended with a decidedly post-modern, pan-Asian sensibility (as heard on If You Were Alien).

Bree and Mansfield’s distinctive vocals mesh with ease and grace, resulting in intoxicating harmonies that slip under your skin and stay there. While this third full-length record doesn’t boast any tracks as immediate as These Things Take Time, the Brunettes more effectively establish a consistent mood here; Wall Poster Star, a smoldering, late-night rumination on “modern Don Juans” who “draw lines from rock ‘n’ roll songs,” is one such stylistic highlight. Thankfully, overly precious gimmicks like the ones employed on Stereo (Mono Mono) are kept to a minimum.

At 38 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Structures & Cosmetics is a lean, lovely slice of offbeat pop that should go down as smooth as a late afternoon daiquiri.

Flight of the Conchords

The Distant Future

**** 4 of 5 stars

The Brunettes

Structure & Cosmetics

*** 3 of 5 stars

From: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram