As much as it pains

As much as it pains me to say it, the new Tenacious D album isn't that great.

The thing is, they're funny and cool because they're simply two fat guys with guitars that sing funny songs. The first time I saw them perform, they did more comedy than actual music, and their bizarre sense of humor stood out in the "evening at the improv" atmosphere back in the day. Over the years, they morphed a bit, into purely musical comedy, a sort of indie Smothers Brothers. But this new record is dreck.

Gone is the endearing sound of acoustic guitars being played with questionable expertise. In its place is what I suppose is an attempt at an ironic "arena rawk" sound, much like Weezer doing "hash pipe." You can almost hear the cues where fireworks are supposed to be shooting off onstage. Isn't irony dead yet? It's like listening to their music underwater, the hard rawk sound muddies any comedic timing, and the simplicity of jokey songs over quiet guitars is no where to be found.

If you want to hear what the D are really like, get yourself some bootlegs instead. I hope to god their live gig coming up is just them, sans the cheesy studio rock band.