Tenacious D

Part music biz satire, part heavy metal parody and part comedy record, the debut from internet buzz band Tenacious D is what might happen if Cheech, Chong and the Smothers Brothers were to work together, or if Corky and the Juice Pigs and Barenaked Ladies spent more time listening to Judas Priest than the Beach Boys. The disc's 21 tracks are half music and half spoken word sketches. Some are funny, some are not. Some are clever, some are dumb and uninspired. The record's existence is more than anything a testament to how a gifted character actor (High Fidelity's Jack Black) and his portly pal Kyle Gass used hype and connections, like Dave Grohl, to spark a record company feeding frenzy. In small doses the bits about tubular meat products like kielbasa and schnitzel and the sensitive odes to the intricacies of male/female relations ("Fuck Her Gently") can be amusing. But unlike classic National Lampoon, Steve Martin and Monty Python comedy records, it doesn't hold up to repeated listens.