If you've not heard of these guys,  or perhaps you've heard of them but not seen any of their material, I suggest you read on.

I have been a fan of Flight of the Conchords (yes it's spelled that way - a play on musical terms I would think) since I first saw them on the now defunct Standup! comedy show many years ago. Back then they were 'Flight of the Nobody's' but it was immediately obvious that Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were a breath of fresh air for the industry. Although they are from New Zealand I can't see any reason why us Aussie's can't claim them as our own. We claim Russell Crowe as our own and he is from New Zealand - so why not!

I have embedded the first FOTC performance on Standup! below, the original and best version of 'The humans are dead'.

Fast forward a few years and out of the blue the loveable duo have managed to hit it big in the USA with an HBO produced series, simply titled 'The Flight of the Conchords'. I am the proud owner of and can vouch for it's replay value. This TV series however did catch me off guard.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I loathe musicals. Well each episode of FOTC has at least 2 of their songs enacted and woven in, and it wasn't until the 6th episode that I realised I had essentially been watching a musical and I was enjoying it. That is largely thanks to the awesomeness of the music, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious and sometimes just awesomely catchy, but always with creative lyrics. Here's some proof:

The series centres around Bret and Jemaine who now reside in New York, trying to crack the 'big time' with the help of their inadequate band manager Murray, and while trying to avoid their one and only fan, Mel, who constantly stalks the lads. You will find every song they performed on Standup! has been enhanced for the series and it works wonderfully.

If the FOTC sounds like something you could fancy, you can do a lot worse. Have a look at some