Review Summary: Bring the silly.
Music that incorporates humor seems, to me, to exist on a gradient directly correlated with musical and compositional ability. Groups like Phish, The Mothers of Invention (and every other Zappa project) exist on one end of the spectrum: talented musicians making occasionally tongue-in-cheek songs that regard being funny as ancillary to their main goal of making complex, interesting music. Bands like the Lonely Island and Flight of the Conchords take the opposite approach: be as funny as possible while hoping that the listener doesn’t mind simple songcraft. With “One of the Gang” Don’t Stop or We’ll Die (hereafter referred to as DSOWD) plant themselves firmly in this side of the camp.
DSOWD is made up of LA comedians Paul Rust, Harris Wittels, and Mike Cassady, three guys about as involved in the alternative comedy scene as three people can be. Between podcast appearances, stand-up gigs, and writing jobs, they get together and write silly little piano-pop tunes from the point of view of a slew of odd characters: a frustrated youth basketball coach, a group of mushroom-popping grandmothers, a boy crushing on his babysitter. Seemingly drawing inspiration from their knowledge of comedy writing, the songs are mainly send-ups of narrative tropes: the frustrated young trophy wife (“Once in Awhile”), the exhausted coach of every 80s sports movie aimed at children (“It Ain’t Easy”). Basically, the sillier and more ridiculous, the better.
But it’s this tendency to be as ridiculous as possible that sometimes gets DSOWD in trouble. For example, album lowlight “She Got Titties (In All the Right Places)” relies far too much on the silliness of its premise (a young boy obsessed with his babysitter’s breasts) without really bringing any interesting jokes to the table. The song ends up being predictable from verse to verse, making obvious jokes that all end up sounding sort of the same.
Still, “One of the Gang” is a fun little record. When the guys are on, they’re hilarious, and the music is pleasant enough to make listening a fun experience. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s sure making me laugh.
