After getting off to a somewhat shaky start with last week’s season premiere, Flight Of The Conchords seems to be settling back into its groove this week, with a couple of memorable songs to match a memorable plot. Of course, the reason the plot was so memorable might be because you remember it from last season, when it was called “Bret Gives Up The Dream.”
Okay, so tonight’s story was a bit of a rehash. And yeah, “Sugar Lumps” bears a distinct resemblance to “Boom,” from the same episode. Yet I’m willing to forgive a lapse in originality for two reasons: One, money issues are going to be an ongoing problem for a band of the Conchords’ stature, so it makes sense that they’re going to have to keep coming up with creative ways to keep from pawning their dad and mom guitars, be it human-bilboarding or male prostitution; two, the Fergie-aping “Sugar Lumps” kicked the ass of the Black Eyed Peas-aping “Boom.” (Which I consider one of the better songs of season one.)
Like “Bret Gives Up The Dream,” “The New Cup” begins with Bret and Jemaine strapped for cash, this time as a result of Bret’s reckless spending in pursuit of a new cup. (Though I understand his desire to escape the tyranny of Jemaine’s “cup roster,” $2.79 seems awfully steep for a cup. Bret clearly buys his nifty animal T-shirts at the Salvation Army, why can’t he get a 50-cent mug while he’s there?) When their phone, gas, and electricity checks bounce, Bret’s forced to pawn his guitar to fund an ill-conceived Super Straw venture. Murray, meanwhile, tries to help out by answering an “Internet letter” from a nice gentleman from Nigeria with a business proposition. Mel offers the guys a non-degrading way to earn money—giving her a massage—but ends up giving Jemaine an idea for a better, degrading way to earn money: become a gigolo. Bret gives it a go as well, but despite a surprising aptitude for pimping, he can’t bring himself to offer anything more than hugs until he gets more confident. Jemaine decides to go it alone, following Eugene’s advice—from the totally normal book, How To Get It Done—to work the airport hotels. When Nigel the Nigerian comes through with Murray’s money—a nice twist on a seemingly obvious subplot—Bret sets out to tell Jemaine he doesn’t have to put on the red light. After a musical interlude called “Roxanne”—shit, I mean “You Don’t Have To Be A Prostitute Jemaine,” Bret finds him just in time to keep him from getting laid, but not soon enough to keep them both for getting busted for solicitation… um, by the cops he himself called.
It seems silly to critique FOC for imitating other artists, since musical homage is kind of the name of the game. But while the Conchords usually use these reference points as a foundation on which to build an original number, both of tonight’s songs came dangerously close to straight-up parody. I’m not complaining, exactly, because I thought both of tonight’s songs were great, and huge improvements on last week’s more original but less inspired numbers. I just wish “Sugar Lumps” hadn’t gotten that infernal “My Humps” stuck in my head again. But it was worth it to see those sweet dance moves and Jemaine’s pole-dancing skills.