Could someone please tell Jack Black and Kyle Gass that singing the word ‘fuck’ 39 times in a song doesn’t automatically make your music better? Sure it worked for original ditties like ‘Fuck Her Gently’ on their self-titled debut, but Pick Of Destiny has neither the wit nor fresh charm of the duo’s first spin round the hard rock block.
Whereas Tenacious D left the band free to experiment with different styles and stories, Pick Of Destiny is the musical score to Gass and Black’s new movie of the same title and the two are tied to the script. The songs are more to the point – albeit a lyrically fantastical, heavy metal obsessed point – this time out. But it’s the random, off the wall composition style that made Tenacious D a hit in the first place.
Half the album’s songs are crafted from drug-induced delusions of unicorns and the smell of the colour periwinkle, like the ode to the sasquatch in ‘Papagenu (He’s My Sassafrass)’. The other songs are attempts at the rude but witty swear-fest of the duo’s debut. But songs like ‘The Government Totally Sucks’ and ‘Dude (I Totally Miss You)’ fall short of expectations. Also, isn’t there a rule in The Musician’s Creed that states you can’t have more than one song title containing the word ‘totally’ on an album?
Pick Of Destiny staves off failure with Gass and Black’s superior playing, and the latter's superb singing. The boys are passionate about music, and it comes through in their sound. And songs like ‘POD (The Pick Of Destiny)’, while not up to par with their original work, still get stuck in your head.