Pioneers of Comedy-hop are back

Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, collectively known as the musical comedy group The Lonely Island, are back to make us laugh again with their sophomore album, “Turtleneck & Chain.” The album follows up to the group’s 2009 debut album, “Incredibad,” which was ironically incredi-good and peaked at #13 on the US Billboard 200 album chart.

“We started this fake rap s***/ the world needs us!” Jorma recites in “We’re Back,” the lead track on “Chain.” It’s hard to deny The Lonely Island gang are on top of their game. Nobody does comedy rap better, partially because nobody else really does comedy rap. The group essentially created their own genre and have now grown to fully embrace it.

On “Incredibad,” it was clear that the guys were largely strangers to studio music production techniques. This time around, however, the guys seem right at home. If you were to swap the comedic lyrics out with serious ones, nearly any track on this album could be confused as a top 40 hit. The album even has impressive guest stars: Akon, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Nicki Minaj just to name a few.

On “Turtleneck & Chain,” the guys are louder, funnier and more consistent. The album contains Saturday Night Live digital short favorites like “Motherlover,” “Threw It On The Ground” and “I Just Had Sex.” Other standout tracks are “Rocky,” where Andy raps about fighting the boxer Rocky, and “Japan,” where the guys rap in anime voices about blowing their record label’s money in Tokyo.

The album has the ability to make you dance and laugh, sometimes simultaneously. It will only be a matter of time before this album sweeps weddings, high school dances and frat parties around the country.

By Cristi Williams