Jen Martensen Writing

Tenacious D
Tenacious D

Tenacious D will rock your block off.

Comedic geniuses Jack Black and Kyle Gass are Tenacious D, and The D fucking rocks. Originated in 1994 from the same fertile humor soil that reaped both The Ben Stiller Show and the warped brilliance of David Cross and Bob Odenkirk's Mr. Show, Tenacious D have at long last evolved from stage routine to rock record with glowing success, bringing forth the glory of a killer record.

Their self-titled debut album is chock-full of meaty riffs, wicked lyrics, all of the requisite rock musical references, and heaps of performing talent. The D band on record includes such steamy guest nuggets as Dave Grohl on drums, Steve McDonald of Redd Kross on bass, Phish's Page McConnell on keyboards and both Ken Andrews of On/Failure and Warren Fitzgerald of The Vandals on guitar. Produced by The Dust Brothers, the arrangements are super-fly tight, the playing stupendous, but it's the lyrics that are the creamy luscious treat at the heart of the album.

Jack Black - an unlikely funny hero...all the ladies want him and all the guys want to be him - is blessed with quite possibly the sharpest comic timing and delivery talent ever. The D's songs and skits are lowest-common-denominator humor, for sure, but he and Kyle Gass wallow gloriously in the gutter and make you glad to be there with them. "Fuck Her Gently" finesses the finer points of delicate coitus manners, "Dio" is an epic classic rock tale of ensuring a comfortable retirement for Ronnie James (his Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Dio metal legend is safe in the prime hands of The D), "The Road" sums up the angst and heartbreak of true groupie love, and "Rock Your Socks" bottom-lines the quest, purpose, drive, goals, the very essence of Tenacious D. Of the 21 tracks, only the "Drive-Thru" sketch piece falls flat, running on far longer than necessary to be truly funny.

The most pleasant surprise of The D is that they can actually play, that Jack possesses a remarkably great singing voice, exhibited earlier in a smoove turn on Marvin Gaye's "Lets Get It On" at the tail end of the film "High Fidelity." Whether delivering lines in any of the several spoken interludes on the record, crooning in the mellower songs or belting out the rawk, Jack's always dead-on. Kyle is the ultimate straight man, setting up supreme lead-ins, landing punch lines and proudly being the butt of splendorous jokes, playing alongside Jack the whole way.

Currently on tour, Tenacious D live is a hot ticket in every town. The setup is just Jack and Kyle on acoustic guitars - and it would benefit hugely from a guitar/bass/drums touring backing band to take it over the top into the real power rock blowout realm. In absence of that, the show feels like it would deliver better in a comedy club than a musical venue - as the subtleties of JB and KG's facial expressions and verbal delivery get lost without greater intimacy or instrumentation.

Hurry hurry and snatch up Tenacious D, for the first run of the album will become collectors' items of a sort. The depiction of Jack and Kyle on the front cover naked but for devil horns and guitars, and on the back cover as naked infants, in both shots chained to the ankles of Satan on a pentagram, seems to have ignited the ire of the humorless conservative powers that be and so it will be changed for all future pressings of the album. You'd have to be pretty uptight and salty to not roll with the glee of The D - offense being taken to any of their material is just plain silly. This gem of Cleveland Steamer hilarity is mad cool revelry in all that is rock. Lighten up, dig it, give up the hot love and embrace The D.