In search of the right chord

PITY the musical comedy fan. For years, Weird Al Yankovic was the highest-profile parodist on the scene, and not until the Jack Black-Kyle Gass duo Tenacious D came along did “mock rock” gain any kind of traction in today’s irony-drenched culture.

Enter New Zealand’s Flight of the Conchords. The duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie write their own songs, skewering entire genres of music with a witty affection that has gained them cult followings from London to New York. This summer, the Kiwis graduate from cult sensation to pop phenomenon, thanks to the HBO show “Flight of the Conchords” that documents the fictional band trying to “make it” (or simply get a paid gig) in Manhattan.

“I just had someone ask for my autograph today, actually,” Clement says over lunch at a Burbank restaurant near the editing facility for the HBO show. “People are nice about [fame] over here.... In New Zealand they just yell at you, like, ‘Don’t ignore me because you are famous!’ ”

Long before the cable network called upon Clement and McKenzie to help save their post-”Sopranos” Sunday night lineup, Flight of the Conchords toured the world, playing at tiny venues in London and gatherings such as Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival.

The U.S. is the final frontier for the duo, whose brand of dry, witty comedy seems more suited for British audiences. While U.S. audiences, to an extent, embraced Tenacious D, there are many (according to postings by HBO subscribers on hbo.com message boards) who simply don’t “get” Flight of the Conchords.

“Occasionally we’ll get people going, ‘They’re just ripping off Tenacious D,’ but we’re most definitely not,” says Clement, the bespectacled half of the duo. “We only just heard them a few years ago.”

Indeed the band, whose act consists of a bit of awkward banter preceding often-hilarious folk songs with lyrics like “You’re so beautiful / You could be a part-time model,” has little in common with the over-the-top, heavy-metal stylings of Tenacious D. The Conchords ply their trade with quiet, witty certitude. Their songs have titles like “Albi the Racist Dragon” or “Robots (Humans Are Dead),” and they play their shows sitting on stools.

Last year, before they signed with HBO, McKenzie and Clement were busy refining their act at Largo, where lines of fans stretched down Fairfax Avenue even though the duo hadn’t yet released a record in the U.S. The Conchords trace their popularity to a 2005 HBO “One Night Stand” special, which now has a second life on YouTube.

“The funny thing is, we did that show years ago,” McKenzie says. “Every time we come back [to the U.S.] we are more famous because of it. We are definitely more famous here.... New Zealand is where comedy goes to die.”

So McKenzie and Clement have moved to the U.S., the former in Silver Lake and the latter in West Hollywood. Although they chose to set and film their TV show in New York, they recorded most of their EP (due Aug. 7 on indie label Sub Pop) and forthcoming album in a Pasadena studio with producer Mickey Petralia (Beck, Peaches).

“It was fun,” McKenzie says. “A lot of our songs allude to a style, but when we went into the studio this time, we really pushed it and went a little further than just alluding.”

Songs such as “She’s So Hot, Boom,” an upbeat acoustic number, became a full-on dancehall tune, replete with beats, for the version that aired on television June 24.

“What was interesting is that, where we were -- and I don’t know if this is the right word, but -- gentle with our production before, he just slammed us into a new sound with powerful beats,” McKenzie says.

And while the duo experimented with several styles for the show, including hip-hop (“Hiphopapotamus vs. Rhymenocerous”) and even a Pet Shop Boys homage (“Inner City Pressure”), most of the Conchords’ music remains acoustic-guitar driven, with sweet but often absurd lyrics.

At Wednesday’s sold-out El Rey Theatre show, the Kiwis will keep it simple -- two chairs and two mikes set up onstage. Fans are likely to demand classics such as “Bowie Song,” with outrageous lyrics sung in an exaggerated, Ziggy Stardust style.

Other numbers might feature a thrift-store find McKenzie is fond of -- a Casio DG-20 midi guitar from 1983.

“I remember seeing that in the shop before you bought it and thinking, ‘Who would use that?’ ” Clement says, erupting in sheep-like laughter.

“It’s very difficult to play, actually,” McKenzie says. “You play a chord and it gets the wrong note sometimes. That’s part of the charm.”

A lot like the Conchords themselves.

charlie.amter@latimes.com

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Flight of the Conchords

Where: El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Price: $20 (sold out)

Info: (323) 936-4790; www.goldenvoice.com/concerts.htm