Music Monday: Garfunkel and Oates

There are many similarities between today's artists and Jonathan Coulton, who was covered here a couple of years ago. Both built their audiences largely online, and both are nerdy and funny. But Jonathan Coulton is one dude, and these are two women, so it's entirely different. It's Music Monday, and it's all about Garfunkel and Oates.

Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci are actors and comedians, and while neither is super famous, it's like that you've seen or heard one or both of them somewhere. Micucci is the voice of Sadie Miller in Steven Universe. She's the short brunette, and that's why she's Oates. Lindhome is the co-creator and co-star of comedy series Another Period. She's the tall blond, and that's why she's Garfunkel. They even had a short lived musical comedy show on HBO, built around their songs!

But before they did any of that, they sat down on a couch and sang songs, usually written by Lindhome. You can see all of those on their youtube channel, but the audio quality isn't great, and many of those early songs got re-recorded, and re-released, often with fun videos! So we'll stick to those whenever possible.

I really love their vocal harmonies. I love their references. I don't always agree with their jokes (they are often too mean for me), but they are consistently funny.

It all started with the song Only You, written for Lindhome's short film "Imaginary Larry," and it is funny and profane. Lindhome got her friend Micucci to sing it with her. This was both the first couch recording and the first music video they made, way back in 2008.

The second song they released as a video seems incredibly old in two distinct ways, one of which is great and the other really isn't. It's a pro marriage equality song, which in 2009 was still definitely a fight. It also features a rather adorable performance by TJ Miller. This was long before he was accused as a sexual predator and also for calling in a fake bomb threat on an Amtrak train. This is Sex With Ducks.

The next song is available in a high quality version, which is sadly not embedabble here on Steemit. So if you can't be bothered to click the link, you can watch the couch version here. It's a song about a problem both band members seem to share, which is that they lack a certain skill many of their contemporaries have. It's called I Don't Understand Job.

Most Garfunkel and Oates songs work fine on the couch, and probably in a comedy club. But not this one. This was their first seriously produced video, and it is definitely one of my favorites. Both because we've all been to parties that have gone to crap, and because the reference game here is ON POINT. The video also features a bunch of their comedy friends, such as Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman. This is This Party Took a Turn for the Douche.

In 2012, during the bailouts after the Bush economic crash, the two released a song that now seems even more timely (it's kinda the opposite of Sex With Ducks, in that respect), as it is a very specific spoof of We Are The World type songs. It's called Save The Rich.

In the same year, they also released their saddest song. It's a breakup song, and it is funny and depressing and has a great animated video that I really like. It's My Apartment's Very Clean Without You.

This one took a while to get a video. It was the second song uploaded to the youtube channel, but it took a few years before it got a high quality recording with a cameo by future Music Monday subject Weird Al.

As the years progressed, the video and audio quality of couch recordings have improved. They're still not amazing, but they're serviceable. Which is good, because this song is only available on youtube in this version. And it one of their funniest. It was the closing song of their Netflix special, Trying To Be Special. It's a song sang by the same women, at ages 29 and 31. This is 29/31. Oh, important warning on this one. There is angry screaming. Be advised.

One of the duo's earliest songs took a while to get a real video (and only got it as part of the promotion for their HBO show), but it was worth the wait. Now, I think this song is super funny, but I know people who really don't so your mileage may very well vary. This is Pregnant Women Are Smug.

The second breakup song in this post is way funnier than the first one. And it's one of the songs where the duo are very clearly the villains are the piece. Once again, the references are simply amazing. This is The Fadeaway.

I have spoken about becoming more bi as I grow older. For me, it coincided with a time when I'm functionally asexaul, so it hasn't been a real factor in my life. But I wonder, if it did, if things change, would my attempt to make anything happen look anything like the female equivalent, as represented by this song. This is another couch only song. This is The Old College Try.

One of the themes that come up in G&O's work is hypocrisy. They don't like it. And that is never expressed more clearly that it is with what may be their least SFW song. Well, okay, very few of their songs are particularly safe for work. In any case, this is funny, and I won't ruin the punchline. This is The Loophole.

As we've seen, Garfunkel and Oates can be somewhat mean. And you might expect that their song "Loser," from the HBO show, will be super mean. And it starts out that way. But here's the twist: This is their sweetest song, my absolute favorite of theirs. This is Loser.

Next week, an artist I've been thinking about covering since this post series started (and I'm putting it publicly here on the blockchain to force myself to do the work): Janelle Monáe.

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