T.J. Miller’s “The Extended Play EP”

Can I be honest?

I mean, like, really really honest?

I guess I owe it to you to be honest, right? That’s kinda the point of this blog. To listen to comedy and let you know what I liked and what I didn’t; to give you my very humble opinion on what may be worth your hard-earned money and what might not.

And so it is with that mindset that I must let you know what I thought of The Extended Play EP, the new project from T.J. Miller.

Just a heads up before we go any further: If you’re a friend or relative of Miller’s, you might wanna skip this review.

The truth is, I didn’t care for this album.

I really, really, really, genuinely, sincerely, and with all of my heart didn’t care for this album.

I was looking forward to listening to this album, as I have enjoyed Miller’s work in various movies and he made me genuinely laugh during Cloverfield as the guy holding the camera who gets funnier and funnier as the suspense escalates. I wasn’t aware that Miller did stand-up and after perusing the press release that accompanied my copy of this project touting his various awards and accolades he’s received as a comic, I was excited to give this a listen.

I suppose I just didn’t “get” it. When I read that he was one of  “10 Comics to Watch” or made a “hot list” of comics to keep an eye on, I just assumed Miller would be performing stand-up on this project. Or…at the very least…comedy.

Instead what I was treated to was over an hour of really bad pseudo-rap music.

Just…just not good at all.

Miller isn’t much of a lyricist – even for a rapper – and none of the songs had much in the way of hooks or catchy beats. But, again, maybe I just didn’t get it. I’m not sure what he was going for. Was he trying to be bad? Is that where the humor was supposed to be? Or did he buy ProTools and spend a weekend goofing around in his home recording songs he thought were actually good songs?

The project had a real feeling of sincerity in that Miller was actually trying to make songs that might actually sound good but he came up short. That’s one of the reasons why acts like The Lonely Island and Jon LaJoie succeed. Their songs sound like actual songs you would hear on the radio. That they also manage to be funny on top of sounding legit is the real coup. And even when, for example, The Lonely Island records songs that are intended to sound cheesy like their Guy #1/Guy #2 songs, it’s done with tongue firmly in cheek.

That’s not the case with this album. I don’t think it’s bad on purpose. I think….I think it’s just bad.

During the course of the album, Miller makes a lot jokey references to the fact that he’s white and he’s not good at rapping, but it rings so true it loses all sense of humor. It’s almost as if Miller feels he is supposed to say he’s not good in order to get a laugh. But, deep down, I believe Miller thinks he’s got actual talent as a rapper and songwriter.

I could be way off base but, I’ll say it again, if that was his intention, I didn’t get it.

There are a series of rap “battles” on the project whose premises are so hacky and formulaic, they never have a chance to rise to the occasion. (“Hey, I know, let’s have a rap battle but instead of insulting you, I’ll actually say nice things instead! Ha ha ha! And in the next one, how about you be really good at rap and then on my turn, I’ll actually be really bad! Ha ha ha ha ha! This is hilarious!”) 

On another song, Miller performs an-Owl City inspired tune. But…there are no jokes. Nothing funny at all about it. It’s just a poorly-written song. If the gag was supposed to be the fact that Miller auto-tuned his voice…well…yea…I’m gonna need more than that. I wonder if maybe Miller doesn’t really have ambitions to be a legitimate artist and, after playing this track back for his friends, they laughed at it and he had to play it off with an “Oh yea, I meant it to sound like that, heh heh heh…of  course I wasn’t being serious! I’ll just add a bit of goofy narration at the end to make sure to let people know I wasn’t being serious when I recorded this, heh heh heh.”

About four songs into the project, I felt myself wishing for Bo Burnham to pop up. Miller tried to be clever with his lyrics but…that’s just it. You can feel him trying and he’s really trying hard and that’s just it. Bo Burnham flows. It’s like he can’t not speak in cleverly humorous rhymes. He doesn’t need to try because he’s a natural.

And then it happened. I got my wish.

Bo Burnham actually does appear on the album in two different tracks and it’s almost too painful to listen to because he’s so good. His appearance only reminded me of how good Miller isn’t and it made me wish I was listening to Bo Burnham’s album instead. As it is on every other song with a collaborator, Miller plays the part of the “Hey you be a good rapper and I’ll pretend like I’m bad” guy and if the gag wasn’t old the first time around, I guarantee it will be the fourth, fifth, 10th, 12th, and 33rd time he tries it.

I wish I were exaggerating, but no. There are over 30 songs on this album and if that’s not proof of a vanity project by someone who doesn’t know how to leave something on the cutting room floor, I don’t know what is. Did he leave anything out?

Seriously. The album is over an hour long, and in this case, that’s not a good thing. It drags on and on and on and after listening to so many sub-par songs in a row, I found myself in a helluva foul mood. Not really the effect you want your comedy to have on people, methinks.

If Miller does stand-up comedy, I really would be genuinely interested in watching him. I know he can be funny and I still enjoy his work as an actor and I’d be curious to see how he does on stage. I honestly believe he’d be pretty good at it.

But as a rapper/singer/songwriter? I don’t know. I couldn’t recommend this album to anyone and have a clear conscience about it.

But hey, could I interest you in this Bo Burnham CD instead?

***

The Extended Play EP  is available from Comedy Central Records

The Lonely Island’s “Turtleneck & Chain”

Ever since my review of Louis C.K.’s Hilarious, I’ve tried to be mindful of how often I throw around that adjective. Louis was right: Our society throws around “hilarious” like we did the word “awesome” in the 80s. We call everything hilarious, whether or not it is remotely humorous. Since then I’ve stopped myself a number of times in every day conversation. Someone would tell me a mundane detail of their day (“Today I saw a car just like mine on the road”) and I caught myself almost responding with a “That’s hilarious”. It was quite the eye opener when I realized I was one of the people C.K. was talking about.

With the release of Turtleneck & Chain, the latest project from The Lonely Island (made up of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone), “hilarious” is now allowed to re-enter the vernacular.

This album is truly and completely the definition of “hilarious.”

Once again, the tracks are composed of in-your-face over-the-top rap songs whose production quality easily matches – and maybe surpasses – anything being released to radio today. In fact, you wouldn’t realize these songs are on the cutting edge of comedy albums until you gave the lyrics a listen.  The first cut, “We’re Back!“, gets things going and there are no apologies. The Lonely Island is determined to let you know they have returned with full-force braggadocio, boasting about their malfunctioning junk. And when I say “junk,” I mean…well….this is The Lonely Island. You know what I mean.

The album is being released on May 10, just a couple of days after Mother’s Day. Appropriately – or probably inappropriately – there are two songs dedicated to mothers. “Motherlover” made its debut on Saturday Night Live last year and it’s nearly impossible to listen to the song and not picture Samberg and Justin Timberlake strutting in their horrible 80s-inspired outfits. “Mama” takes the standard Ode-To-Mom tribute and turns it on its ear with – I’ll say it again – hilarious results.

Like any music project, there are some tracks that I will more than likely skip when they pop up in iTunes in the future (the title track “Turtleneck & Chain” and “Trouble On Dookie Island” are pretty good at skewering the current hip hop sound, but lyrically didn’t do much for me. “Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde” is basically just a re-hash of the first time Rihanna popped up in a Digital Short). Most of the tracks, though, demand multiple listens if for no other reason than to catch the lyrics missed the first time around because you were laughing so hard. It is interesting to note that one of my favorite Digital Shorts of all time, “Threw It On The Ground,” isn’t nearly as enjoyable as an audio-only track. Without the slo-mo shots of cake and phones smashing onto the pavement, the song just sort of sits there.

The guest appearances on the album are impressive. The afore-mentioned Timberlake and Rihanna as well as Snoop Dogg, Akon, Beck, Nicki Minaj, John Waters, Santigold, and Michael Bolton, whose performance on “Jack Sparrow” surprised me by being my favorite on the entire album. The groundwork for the song’s joke is laid within the first 15 seconds and just when you think you’ve figured out what the song is all about, Bolton’s cinephile tendencies take over.

Other highlights of the project include “Rocky“, a fun old school Beastie Boys meets old school Fresh Prince with a touch of James Brown funk story reminiscent of their previous song “Punch You In The Jeans“, and “Japan,” a nose-thumbing romp written for the sole purpose of breaking the bank at Universal Music Group.

The Lonely Island has done what few musical acts have done by releasing a second album that is not overshadowed by their impressive debut and stands solidly on its own. They’ve also done what few comedy albums have done by releasing an album that demands multiple listens. I think it’s safe to say my morning commute will soon be accompanied by these hilarious bass-pumping jams blasting out of the speakers of my Ford Focus. My sense of humor – and sincere lack of street cred – is grateful.

***

Turtleneck & Chain is available from Universal Republic Records

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