Hip-hop trio The Lonely Island have emerged as one of the paramount comedy bands in the world in the last few years, since building up their cult status in the States through their involvement in the popular TV series Saturday Night Live. Their first album, Incredibad, propelled the group into international stardom, backed by such viral hits as ‘Dick in a Box‘ (featuring Justin Timberlake), ‘Jizz in My Pants‘, and the Grammy-nominated ‘I’m on a Boat‘ (featuring T-Pain).
On their second album, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone have proven that they are more than just a bunch of jokers with a synthesizer. Turtleneck & Chain takes its title from a lyric in the Akon-supported ‘I Just Had Sex‘, which hit YouTube back in December last year and has since racked up almost 100 million views. The album continues the band’s tradition of high-profile guest performers, with appearances from Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg and even Rihanna star-studding the track listing.
The album opens with a powerfully-delivered declaration of ambition and bombast: ‘We’re Back!‘ is a perfect example of the band’s stylistic mission of mixing hardcore rap beats with ridiculous lyrics and ideologies, in this case including erectile dysfunction, incontinence and cartoon sex. The whimsical humour continues throughout the 19-song album, with particular highlights including ‘Jack Sparrow‘, which features an out-of-place hook about the eponymous Pirates of the Caribbean character delivered by a film-obsessed Michael Bolton; ‘Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde‘, in which Rihanna robs a bank with a mumbling nerd who turns out to be an incredible rapper; and ‘Motherlover‘, the long-awaited sequel to ‘Dick in a Box’, again featuring Justin Timberlake and frontman Andy Samberg, this time singing about making love to each other’s mothers in place of Mothers’ Day gifts.
Turtleneck & Chain should be approached with an open mind; littered with profanity and full of childish humour, The Lonely Island’s sophomore offering exists for the sole purpose of making you laugh, and it is well-equipped not only to leave you in stitches but also to drill catchy melodies and imitatible lyrics into your brain for the world to enjoy.
Rating: 9/10
Good: The number of high-profile featured artists is impressive, and puts the album a huge step ahead of other comedy musicians. The songs are also immensely catchy, and the lyrics are simply hilarious.
Bad: As with any comedy album, the jokes featured within are bound to wear thin eventually. The style of humour is also at risk of missing some listeners, too.
6 Comments
Not gunna lie, I’m not as happy with this Lonely Island album as the last. I remember with the last album I actually laughed at *every single song* without having to watch videos and containing jokes that weren’t just about their dicks. Don’t get me wrong, love some of the singles… I Just Had Sex and Jack Sparrow are awesome, but the album as a whole doesn’t work for me. It’s a 6/10 from me.
I find that surprising, Moggy. After a few listens of this album, I came to the exact same conclusion that you have, but the other way around! In other words, I laughed at nearly every song on Turtleneck & Chain, whereas there are so many on Incredibad (“Santana DVX”, “Ras Trent”, “Punch You in the Jeans” and “Space Olympics” come to mind) that I could easily skip.
I really think that they’ve taken a good formula and refined it into an incredible product: Incredibad was the start, but on this album they’ve really nailed it. Yes, there are a couple of songs I can’t stand to listen to on this record (“Japan” can fuck off!), but overall I think it’s an incredible product. The stand-out songs, too, stand out just that little bit more than their equivalents on Incredibad.
Thanks for the comment, though! 🙂
That’s cool man, I think it’s an acquired like to be honest. I can’t imagine my gran ever liking any of their albums…to be honest!
That being said, I posted some videos up on Facebook (namely “We’re Back!” and “Shy Ronnie 2”) and my Mum has now purchased the album! She is pretty cool, to be fair.
“She hands me my cell phone, says it’s my dad. I say ‘Maaaan, this ain’t my dad! This is a cell phone! I THREW IT ON THE GROUND!”
I nearly died laughing at the album, but that moment was a particular highlight.
Just one of the many incredible moments on the album, I love that line too! They had me laughing from “Aye yo my dick don’t work, that shit is soft as a pillow” though!