courtesy of Sub Pop Records

If you haven't heard of New Zealand folk/pop/comedy duo Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, aka Flight of the Conchords, by now, congratulations that you're reading this review and finally getting a dose. As of this last year, they're full-on internationally famous, Grammy-winning television stars on a self-titled HBO series ("Flight of the Conchords"), in addition to being touring comedians, so it had to happen eventually.

Last week they released their first full-length album on Seattle's own Sub Pop records. Fans who haven't picked it up yet are probably wondering if it's worth a purchase, and the answer is: maybe. It depends on how badly you want new recordings of their old material.

The new eponymous album features 14 tracks and a brief "outro" highlighting some of the great songs from their HBO series, many of which have been recorded in either their previous CD "The Distant Future" or in perfect form on their HBO "One Night Stand" special. Some highlights include their battle rap tribute "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros," "Muth'uckas," "Robots," "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)," and "Business Time."

While the material is great, fans who have seen all of it before might feel a bit disappointed by the total lack of new songs. Accept it as simply the soundtrack to the television series, though it may feel like lowering expectations, and it will be a thoroughly enjoyable 42 minutes.

However, another problem is that without the visuals of the show to accompany the material, the new versions, which are generally blander and less spontaneous than their earlier live work, are weaker than past recordings. In this age of file sharing and the ease of a trip to YouTube, many fans may have been spoiled by the taste of their superior live performances.

The positive side of the new studio recordings, however, is that the duo had a budget and more opportunities to experiment with instrumentation. When performing live, it's mostly just Jemaine and Bret with acoustic guitars, but here they get to rock out with a plethora of different beats and instrumentation courtesy of producer Mickey Petralia in addition to their base acoustic guitar sound. From the sitar sound of the LSD-laced "The Prince of Parties" and the synthesizers and drums used on "Inner City Pressure" and "Think About It," almost every familiar song sounds fully realized as a piece of music, not just as a comedy sketch.

So if you already know you like the group and want to support their music, you can't go wrong here, though you shouldn't expect anything as exciting as an album full of new music. If you haven't listened to them before, though, this is the perfect opportunity to get introduced.

For an opportunity to see Flight of the Conchords live, make sure to take a day off later in May when they will be performing at Sasquatch!, the annual Northwest music festival being held at the Gorge Amphitheatre on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26.