The Lonely Island: Turtleneck and Chain

Music

Turtleneck & Chain

- 04/06/2011

The Lonely Island: Turtleneck and Chain

The Lonely Island
R&B & Hip-HopSoundtracks
Out now
Universal Republic

reviewed by

Natasha Ahmed

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Following the success of their first hit album Incredibad, The Lonely Island are back with the long-anticipated Turtleneck & Chain and huge star power to prove it. Featuring the likes of Snoop Dogg, Michael Bolton and Rihanna, this SNL comedy trio return with their satirical jokes, catchy hook lines and crude lyrics that will keep you laughing all day and dancing all night.

Lonely Island’s rise to fame started around 2007 on American TV comedy show ‘Saturday Night Live’. Lead member Andy Samberg was known for poking fun at 90s R&B and auto-tuned mainstream pop/rap songs. His skit with pop singer Justin Timberlake ‘D**** in a Box’ became a viral hit on YouTube with over 27 million views. In 2009, former SNL cast members Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone joined Samberg and Lonely Island was blasted into comedic celebrity stardom. Hits such as ‘Natalie’s Rap,’ featuring Natalie Portman and ‘I’m On a Boat,’ featuring T-pain, led them to their first Grammy nomination.

Unlike their first album, Turtleneck & Chain delivers a much stronger production value and is almost too close for comfort to the actual style of music that it is making a parody of, with a few hits and misses.

‘Turtleneck & Chain’ featuring Snoop Dogg is definitely one of the highlight party songs on the new album. Containing harsh hardcore gangster beats and wacky undertones, this could definitely be blasted at a house party. ‘After Party’ featuring Santigold is one of the few tracks that has a deeper substance behind the lyrics, without losing its ability to make you chuckle. New-wave artist Santigold adds great complimentary vocals and sets it apart from the rest.

As a frequently associated act with Lonely Island, Justin Timberlake’s appearance on ‘Motherlover’ is the track to look out for. Warning: this song has extremely ludicrous content but an infectious melody that will be stuck in your head all week long! It’s another great collaboration with the old-school SNL skit vibe that started it all.

Turtleneck & Chain intones the same goofiness with indigenous lyrics. Most of the tracks will keep you bobbing your head, but there are some forgettable ones too. All in all nothing new is brought to the table. Songs such as ‘Attracted to Us’, ‘Trouble on Dookie Island’ and ‘Shy Ronnie 2’ might get boring since they sound like the same joke repeated over and over again.

The Lonely Island’s ingenious talent to mock and satirise modern-day music comes without a hitch; some of these songs will probably be blasting through college dorms for many years to come.